Review for Safe (Blu-Ray)

Jason Statham’s recent roles have seen him in a bit of a rut, and instead of getting wilder and crazier, his films seem to have gotten softer, moodier and less action-packed. However, his portrayal of ex-cop-turned-cage-fighter, Luke Wright, in Boaz Yakin’s thriller, sees Statham return to his head-smashing, badass best. Packed with car chases, violent fist fights, and gun battles galore, Safe keeps the thrills at a high level right from the offset. The first five minutes is tough to swallow, as it employs erratic scene transitions, one after the other, to reveal characters and locations. Fortunately, things then slow a little as the storyline balances out to a more even keel.

First we meet Mei (Catherine Chan), a 10 year old schoolgirl genius, who’s kidnapped and brought to Manhattan to work for old-school Triad boss Uncle Han (James Hong). Having the ability to remember detailed numeric information, the Triad use the youngster to assist them with their Underworld ‘business’, and give her a code to memorise. Quan Chang (Reggie Lee) is given the role of ‘father’, and, therefore, protector, to Mei, but the Russian mafia soon make their move, outnumber Chang and his men, and take the schoolgirl to attempt to get the code from her.

Meanwhile, Wright is trying to atone his sins by getting pummelled in the cage each night. When he fails to throw his latest fight, Russian mafia boss, Emile Docheski (Sandor Teasy), orders his men to find Luke. A set of tragic and contrived circumstances lead Luke to take to the streets of New York, where his downward spiral soon leads him to the edge of a platform, ready to throw himself under a subway train. He spies Mei, in her flight from the Russians, and comes to her rescue.



Finding a reason to live, Luke takes Mei under his wing. It’s not long before a group of corrupt NYPD officers, ex-colleagues of Wright, also learn of the girl’s knowledge of the code, and the race to find Mei ensues. Nonetheless, Luke decides to play the money-grabbing parties off one against the other. His friendship with the child may be as calculated as the villains are generic, but there is no doubting the plot’s energy, careering around New York hotspots in a hail of gunfire and blood-shed; or as Statham growls, ‘I’ve been in restaurants all night and all I got served was lead’.


Statham does a terrific job balancing his character’s moody, ass-kicking persona with a much softer, tragic undercoat. His robust tackling of subway assailants, a bar fight that sees him shoulder-drop a table, and his plummeting out of a window with a baddie to shield him from the pavement impact, are all the type of acting we are used to seeing from Statham. Being allowed off the leash from the get-go, along with the way the story weaves around mayhem, enables Safe to pitch itself at its leading man’s loyal fans. However, we also see a contrasting image of Wright with Statham’s portrayal of Luke’s relationship with his young companion. His desire to keep Mei out of harm’s way equals his quest to unlock the safe and so giving the movie title a dual meaning.


Catherine Chan is impressing in her role as Mei. She manages to keep up with her more experiences co-stars, though some of her dialogue is a tad stilted. Robert John Burke and Chris Sarandon lead the corrupt officials, Sandor Teasy and Joseph Sikora, the Russian head men, while the undoubted standouts of James Hong and Reggie Lee were the cream of the baddie crop as the Chinese Triads.


Unlike a lot of movies in this genre, Safe doesn’t pull any punches. If someone is in the frame, regardless of whether they are innocent or not, they are fair game to get shot or killed. Rather than fighting in empty allies, disused buildings, or vacant streets, the action takes place in downtown city settings with innocent bystanders becoming entangled in the fray. If the hero can’t die, realism and tragedy need to be shown elsewhere, and Safe attains this by putting as many people as humanly possible in peril, therefore elevating the tension of the entire story.

Extras include a commentary with Boaz Yakin, focusing on character development and blending classic movie themes. There is a trio of featurettes, depicting the elaborate fight choreography and New York set pieces. And then there are the trailers for other productions. The commentary and featurettes are well worth a watch.

Credit must be given to write-director, Yakin, for keeping the exposition down to a bare minimum in favour of bone-crunching action sequences. Statham excels when it comes to the rough and tumble and pithy-one liners. Safe has a sharp intensity and sustains momentum enough to keep it highly watchable, even with the few genre clichés that are present. If you have a fondness for Statham’s brand of action movie or ‘90s movies, such as Die Hard, Speed, and Under Siege, Safe will certainly leave you fully satisfied.