By Kelli Henderson/entertainment editor
Jason Statham stars in Safe, yet another classic Jason Statham movie. Fast camera movements, money, luxurious German cars and beaten, corrupted officials put Statham in his own very entertaining element.
What is different about this Statham flick? He trades his usual hot damsel in distress for an 11-year-old girl.
Luke Wright (Statham) is a B-rated cage fighter who upsets the Russian mob when he does not throw a fight expected to be fixed. The mob, of course, is not happy and kills off Wright’s last loved one.
Now that the Russians are watching him, Wright tries to kill himself until he sees a lost and scared pre-teen Chinese girl. He goes after the girl to try and help her. What he finds is a ring of international mobsters and a corrupt NYPD.
What makes Safe actually entertaining and not just another run-of-the-mill kick-ass movie are the original fight scenes, laugh-out-loud one-liners and unexpected plot.
Of course, Statham fights. And he is good at it. The movie presents Wright with many action scenes where he does pretty much anything to kill the bad guys. He uses his car, the interior of the New York subway, guns and eating utensils. In one scene, he throws a dinner plate at a man’s neck to wound him. Who does that?
The plot is good. Director Boaz Yakin uses unusual time sequences to tell an in-depth story line fairly quickly. The lines the actors say aren’t just there to fill up silence. The film is almost accidentally funny. (“You’ve got some balls, Luke.” “Yeah, it’s amazing I can walk.”)
Many fight scenes are shot with basic angles, fast movements and grunts, but a few are viewed through side and rearview mirrors. The glimpses of brutality act as a teaser for the audience making them want to stay to see the whole shot.
Statham is an actor who revels in the action-martial arts genre. He plays characters that have done bad things in the past but have learned moral lessons.
“Luke’s a killer, but an honest one,” is a quote from this latest film but sums up the characters on his résumé. His characters may have stopped those bad deeds but certainly have not forgotten the tricks of the trade and will do whatever it takes to save those needing to be saved, both for conscience and the audience’s pleasure.
Final take: Safe has good action, and Statham can hold his own with an American accent.
Those who would enjoy it: Action lovers and Statham fans
