You're a man with no friends left in the world thinking about doing yourself and your enemies a favor and ending your life. Moments before you can carry out your plan, however, you see a young girl in need of your help. Do you go to her aid? If your answer is no, you just shortened this movie by about 98%.When we first meet Luke Wright (played by Jason Statham), he's won a mixed martial arts bout that the Russian mob "encouraged" him to lose. An easy enough task given the fact that he already had a losing record. After they assault him, he believes the worst is behind him. That proves to be false when he returns home to find members of the same Russian mob have killed his girlfriend (or wife, I'm not entirely sure and the information sources I've checked are silent on the matter). Rather than kill him, he's left as the prime suspect in the homicide and told to leave the mob's territory. On the other side of the world, a ten year-old Chinese student named Mei (played by Catherine Chan in her first feature film) demonstrates an exceptional gift for remembering numbers regardless of length or complexity. When the nature of her gift becomes common knowledge in her hometown, she becomes the ward of a local businessman with consent of her father whose hands are full thanks to her mother's serious illness. The businessman is a member of the Triads, Chinese organized crime for those who are unfamiliar, and intends to use her gift in America in lieu of written or computer files, as both can be seized by law enforcement. In time, they trust her unflinchingly and ask her to remember a very long number and relay it to the Russians who will give her another number to bring back. But when her escorts are shot en route to the Russians, she runs and they chase her. She makes it to the subway where a despondent Luke (Statham) subdues her pursuers and makes himself the one man in New York who the Triads, the Russians, and the NYPD officers on their payroll all want dead.
Now, I like Jason Statham. While I don't own copies of any film in either the Transporter series or the Crank series, I do own DVDs of The Mechanic and Death Race despite the fact that both films received generally negative reviews from the majority of critics. However that might reflect on my credibility, I thought that this was a very entertaining action film.
The girl (Catherine Chan) has memorized a safe combination for the Chinese mafia, which the Russians want. In order to save the girl, Statham must battle the Russian mafia, Chinese mafia, and the crooked NYPD who are on the take. Jason has a past that makes him more than qualified to take them on.
The movie has numerous chase scenes, shoot outs, fights, and general tough guy stuff. We get a glimpse of Statham doing some compassionate acting (he actually sheds a tear) and let me say... "It ain't pretty." The heartless cold calculating tough guy is his best role. Jason and the girl have good chemistry, there just wasn't enough of it. Good intensity. Good pace, i.e. decent editing.
PARENTAL GUIDE: F-bombs, no sex or nudity.This is a very good film. Very entertaining. And if you are a fan of Jason Statham this movie will not disappoint.
This is an action film. Pure action. So if you're looking for a drama piece, go somewhere else.
It starts with Statham's character witnessing his wife get killed and then being allowed to live by the Russian mob only so they can torment him. He runs into a little girl that has been forced to work for the Chinese mob. He saves her and all hell breaks loose. Suddenly, the cops, the Chinese, and the Russians are all after him and the combination to a safe that the girl holds in her head.
The movie is fast paced and never slows down. Action packed and explosive. Yeah there are a lot of unreal moments in it, but this is a movie after all. However, it is not meant for children. The plot is solid an dI love how he sticks it to everyone that is chasing him in the end.
Watch it. You'll be glad you did.
Read Best Reviews of Safe (2012) Here
As the other reviewers have already noted, its Jason Statham movie time and this time we have one of his most well rounded roles as an ex-cop who gets involved in an incredible story line involving the Russian and Chinese Mafias mixed with infiltrated bad guys in the NY Police department leading all the way to the Mayor played by Chris Sarandon. The performances throughout are outstanding and we even have a memorable cameo by Anson Mount who is brilliant on the AMC series 'HELL ON WHEELS' who has a history with Statham's character. It also marks the film debut of Catherine Chan as Mia, the uber child with the fantastic memory who carries the story along with Statham on her little shoulders. She is so good , she makes it look like she's been doing it since child birth. .The usual chases and shoot outs ensue but Director Boaz Yakin gives each sequence a fresh tone making you think you are seeing them for the first time(if that makes sense). The action never displaces the characters motivations and makes you feel for both sides of the coin. My favorite line is when Sarandon tells Statham that he has balls coming to his office to which Statham retorts ,'Yeah, they're so heavy, I can't walk'. The Blu-Ray has an excellent 7.1 DTS-HD Audio Master track and is presented in a 2.35 aspect ratio. It also contains audio commentary by the director and 3 featurettes on the stunt work and the actors on the production. I anticipate every movie featuring Jason Statham who seems to have evolved into the Steve McQueen of our generation and like him , he never disappoints. His performance is lethal but emotional in this one and show his ability to stretch making his living nightmare all the more tragic in his isolation. The climax also leaves the option of a sequel so lets hope Director Yakin delivers it. It's going to be hard to top this one.Well it has to be said, that the action genre has not been up to standards lately, and it seems like the action era has ended by the end of the 90s, until Statham showed up !!this movie is one of the better entertaining action movies in recent years, I really enjoyed every part of it and it took me back to the Die Hard and 90s years when action films were on top.
Don't get me wrong, its not a perfect film or an Oscar nominated movie, but it truly does deliver pure entertainment and an enjoyable movie experience.
the movie is somewhat similar to 1998 Mercury Rising starring the one and only Bruce Willis, only Safe was more brutal and much more action packed !! sorry Bruce
it revolves around a broken and fallen ex-cop Luke Wright " Statham " who lost almost everything in his life and who hit rock bottom, but once his path is crossed by the young and helpless Chinese girl Mei who is being hunted by every scum bag and corrupt cop in NYC because of her possession of a safe code, the inner fighter in Luke wakes up and now he has a new goal in life, protect Mei and bring down the bad guys !! the plot sounds like something that Jackie Chan would usually do, thankfully, the role fell to Statham who really made the difference here !!
I like Jackie Chan, but come on, he is not brutal enough !
A very well written script for a simple plot, very fast paced and not to mention action packed, Statham really stretches his muscles here, lots of well choreographed fighting sequences, some fantastic shoot out scenes one of which takes place in a night club that was adrenaline pumping, the action was brutal.
I also liked how they gathered around some good actors playing the villains or bad guys, characters ranging from Russian mobsters to Chinese gangsters and even corrupt Cops.
I strongly believe that Jason Statham has emerged as the new action star of the new millennium, he is what Van Damme, Scwharezzenger and Stallone were in the 90s, he has all what it takes to be the ultimate action star and his acting is pretty good too. I can't deny the efforts of Stallone to bring the action genre back with his newest movies like the Expendables 2 , but for now, Statham is on top.
so in short, out of all those B grade action films out there, its nice to see a very well crafted action packed movie that is pure entertainment, thank you Statham !!
highly recommended !!
4.5 out of 5
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