What happens when you take an extremely-fit former NYPD police officer with a short temper, take away everything precious to him and then give him a gun? Well, A LOT of collateral damage! Jason Statham is back to a put a bit of disorder to the New York underworld in Safe, a new film by Lionsgate.
Written & directed by Boaz Yakin (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time), Safe revolves around Luke Wright (Jason Statham), a second-rate cage fighter in the New York MMA scene, who jumps to the aid of a twelve-year old girl, Mei (Catherine Chan), who is being pursued by a group of gangsters from the Russian Mafia. He soon learns that Mei is no ordinary girl but a gifted math prodigy whose memory holds a secret numerical code wanted not just by the Russian Mafia, but by the Triads and the corrupt NYC cops as well. Realizing that he is the only person who can help Mei, Wright creates a master plan to go head-to-head with the dangerous New York underworld.
Safe brings to the table a brilliant combination of action & emotion. When you have a name like Jason Statham attached, you know there is going to be quite a lot of action. Not only do you get Statham’s tough guy acting but also his classic one-pistol-shootouts and witty one liner’s. The film is then given a small amount of sophistication with a great mix of emotional elements. Statham’s character, unlike his previous roles, has a rather interesting soft-side, which not only give’s Statham’s character depth but also allows one to understand the relationship his character builds with Chan’s Mei.
The overall acting in the film is quite good. Having a diverse set of characters – ranging from the Triads to the Russian Mafia – the cast do a great job in giving their respective characters unique, individual traits, helping the audience differentiate each character and as a result, follow the story better. Statham does a brilliant job in portraying Luke Wright. His character is surprisingly complex and he delivers that complexity in his acting. This is very much noticed in the more emotional scenes. However, the best performance was delivered by Catherine Chan as Mei. Having to capture the feelings of a young girl in the middle of a war, witnessing violence and then being able to showcase that she can “handle it” is not an easy thing to do. Even at Chan’s age, she delivers a brilliant mature performance that is truly refreshing to watch. She does her character justice and compliments all the other performances as well. In addition, her on-screen chemistry with Statham is just fantastic, which truly adds value to the overall story. From start to finish, her performance is just outstanding.
This isn’t a complex film with multiple crazy elements. It brings forward a few elements and delivers them very well, to give you an exciting movie experience. For those who love action films, this is a must watch!
Safe releases April 27th 2012 in theatres across Canada. It is distributed by Alliance Films.
Advisory: Rated R for strong violence throughout and coarse language
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_6ksxHBklo]
