Statham Shows No Mercy – ‘Safe’ Movie Review

Thanks to Icon Films, we had the chance to see Boaz Yakin‘s new movie Safe before its Australian cinematic release. This is our review of the film – but as usual – no matter what we say; we recommend that you still go to your local cinema and see the film because: There is no better critic than yourself!

Safe follows the story of a young skilled Chinese girl Mei (Catherine Chan) whose memory holds an important numerical code. Mei was taken away from her mother to serve the Chinese Triad because she is capable of memorizing anything within seconds which can be used in the war between the Chinese, the Russian mafia and a pack of corrupted NYC cops.

During one exchange, Mei is kidnapped by the Russians but escapes with Luke Wright who crossed her path (Jason Statham) – an ex-cop and cage fighter whose life has lost its meaning after the Russians killed his wife following a fixed match.

Safe is a weird film in pretty much the same genre as The Transporter and Crank, full of Statham’s bad ass quotes, fights and shooting making the film Class-B made for cinemas.

The plot is totally cliché in the same old formula of Asian vs Russians and corrupted cops with an obvious die-hard bullet proof guy (who as usual is an ex-cop) ready to kick everyone’s ass. Moreover, the story is like 1998′s Mercury Rising with a less serious take, despite the film’s attempt to be serious as the ridiculous and full-of-testosterone quotes (Eg. Statham talks about the size of his balls to prove how bad ass he is) makes everyone laugh.

As in every Statham film, action is always present but with less man-to-man fights and martial arts stunts in this film as we were used to, using shooting everywhere, making us feel like we were watching a rental video back in the 80′s, which is rather intentional as the producers of Kill Bill were involved in the film.

Apart from Catherine Chan who did a decent job in the film, and Statham, the cast seems to be decorative and forgettable, as most of them dies or are introduced in the last-minute.

Safe is just another Statham film which action flick fans will enjoy, especially if you like lots of shooting, testosterones and a very simple storyline. It is definitely a B-Film aiming for an A-movie status thanks to the lead action star who might become the Chuck Norris of this generation.

Safe is now showing in Australian cinemas