Safe [Icon]
Director: Boaz Yakin.
Starring: Jason Statham, Catherine Chan, Chris Sarandon.
Reviewed by Ben Carey.

[rating: 2/5]

Jason Statham is one of the biggest names in the action genre; if ever there is a Hollywood action blockbuster in the pipeline, there’s a good chance he’s in it. Unlike a lot of action stars though, Statham has appeared in several genuinely awesome films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch (both Guy Ritchie films), and I will mention Crank as well; sure, that film was never going to win any Oscars, but damn it’s a lot of adrenaline-fuelled fun and surprisingly innovative. But apart from those films, Statham’s career seems to be an onslaught of mindless action movies – each featuring him on the cover, with a gun (naturally), in different battle-ready poses.

Safe follows Luke Wright (Statham), an ex-cop turned underground boxer and vagrant. After Luke wins a fixed fight he was supposed to lose, a mob of Russians, with money on the fight, become angry with him, resulting in his family’s death. Instead of killing him though, they set him free, to live out the rest of his miserable life. By chance he runs into Mei (Chan), a young girl on the run from the Triad. Mei is a mathematical genius and she carries with her some very important equations; equations that the Russian mob, the Triads, and a group of corrupt cops are all after.

Safe is definitely not the film to break Statham’s string of mindless action flicks. The script is terrible; the acting is uninspired, particularly from young Catherine Chan. I feel bad for picking on a 12 year old girl, but heck, she is just plain awful, almost every scene in which she speaks is cringe-worthy. But hey, it’s her first feature film and the fact that her acting is awful in this film probably says more about the script and the direction rather than her actual acting ability.

Once again, this is a film that will appeal to action junkies and but very few others. If you’re looking for story or cinematic brilliance, this is most definitely the wrong film for you. However, if you just want some mindless entertainment, Safedoes that pretty well; loads of gun battles, New York City car chases, bad one-liners, explosions, and slow-motion.