"You got some
balls, Luke."
"Yeah, amazing I
can even walk."
If you want to get me to fork over my ticket money, all you
need are two simple words: Jason Statham. The British butt kicker isn't a
classically trained Shakespearean thespian, but he does possess a strong screen
presence that makes him one of few actors capable of being a top action star. Safe is the latest entry in Statham's oeuvre,
a gritty action flick set in the New York underworld. Safe was written and directed by Boaz Yakin, whose diverse previous
efforts as director have been Remember
the Titans and Uptown Girls. His
writing credits include Dirty Dancing:
Havana Nights, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and The Punisher.
Not the Thomas Jane one, but the Dolph Lundgren version from 1989. That last
picture is probably the closest in tone to Safe.
Statham plays Luke Wright, a homeless bum who was once an
MMA fighter and before that a top cop in the NYPD. His life has gone downhill
ever since the Russian mob murdered his wife after botching a fixed fight. Things
change when Luke spots his wife's killer as they pursue a young girl named Mei
(Catherine Chan) through the subway. Mei is a math prodigy grabbed off the
streets of China by the Triads and put to work as a human computer for Han Jiao
(James Hong). Mei and Luke are eventually embroiled in a turf war between the
Chinese and the Russians, both of whom are after a coded sequence the girl has
memorized, which will lead to a hidden cache of money. There's also a team of
crooked police detectives, former comrades of Luke's with connections to the
mayor (Chris Sarandon), looking to cash in as well. Luke pulls a Yojimbo and attempts to play all three
sides in an effort to protect Mei and redeem himself.
If you've seen one Jason Statham movie, you've seen them
all. Safe doesn't do much to
distinguish itself from The Mechanic,
Killer Elite, or any of the Transporter movies. The only surprising element
in Safe is the fact that former Devo
frontman Mark Mothersbaugh composed the score. Yakin isn't a spectacular action
director, but he doesn't lean on the shaky camera and quick editing that the
majority of American directors overuse. Yakin devotes the first half hour of Safe for the setup, taking his time to
introduce a plethora of characters and subplots. Front loading the movie turns
out to be a shrewd choice as it saves all the mayhem for the second and third
acts. For nearly an hour, Statham embarks on a path of righteous fury, engaging
in violent shootouts and fisticuffs. There's a close combat fight sequence on a
subway train and chaotic carnage at a trendy restaurant with Statham suplexing
a man through a table.
The relationship between Luke and Mei borrows a little from
Luc Besson's Leon though Catherine
Chan is no Natalie Portman. Safe has
more in common with the current crop of action flicks churned out by the Besson
machine with its leaden dialogue and by-the-numbers plot. If not for Jason
Statham, Safe would have been
relegated to forgettable, direct-to-video status.
Rating: ** ½ (*****)
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