Being a self-confessed fan of Jason Statham (yes, I am seeking professional help for this affliction) I was looking forward to ‘Safe’ - a film where the cheeky half cockney/half New Yorker takes a young girl under his muscular wing in order to protect her from not just the Triads, but Russian mobsters and even a branch of dirty cops. Obviously we know that `the Stath' will win though, kicking many heads along the way, but it's the ‘journey’ we're interested in (or rather the action!).
Many people will have seen him do something similar in the ‘Transporter’ (1 through however many have been made since I wrote this). And he did it well for that franchise, i.e. dispatching armies of incompetent bad guys without a bead of sweat trickling off his shiny dome. However, here, in ‘Safe,’ it all gets a little too serious.
Statham's previous efforts seem to have a degree of `knowingness' about them, as if they're just a little tongue-in-cheek (think Roger Moore's James Bond stint, but with less hair of course). In ‘Safe,’ the bad guys are indeed ten-a-penny and pretty generic. In fact, there's barely one that you'll remember - just see them as Russian Hood #12 and Dirty Cop #4 and that's about as much character development as you're going to get there.
Other people have drawn comparisons with the Bruce Willis film ‘Mercury Rising,’ where he has to protect a youngster from all sorts of gangs. I haven't seen that one, so I can't comment. Although, at least it is different to have ‘The Stath’ have a child as a sidekick, rather than a ‘damsel in distress’ and (newcomer to the big screen) Catherine Chan does do a great job at portraying the young Chinese girl who has a gift for counting. Sometimes when children are involved in more ‘adult’ films, they can come across as annoying. Glad to say here that doesn’t happen. In fact, it’s only really her and Jason Statham who saves this film rather from being just a bit generic, to WOEFULLY generic and totally forgettable. At least it’s proof that he can helm a film and turn it into something more than it has any right to be.
Overall, ‘Safe’ isn't bad. There are shootouts. There are fist-fights and even a car chase or two. However, it all just seems a little run-of-the-mill. With the ‘Transporter’ franchise you had flashy sets and over-the-top action. Here, you have the grimy backdrop of New York at night and a feeling you've seen most of this before.
However, it does that job for us ‘Statham die-hards,’ so I can hardly complain. It’s one of those films that I’m happy to watch on DVD or on some online streaming service, rather than having to pay full price in the cinema.
Not bad, just nothing that compares to the ‘Expendables’ series in terms of action and certainly nothing like the ‘Crank’ films in terms of realism (or lack thereof!).
7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that
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