Safe is an action film written and directed by Boaz Yakin and starring Jason Statham.
The film has an interesting plot. A former NYPD cop rescues a 12-year-old, abducted Chinese girl, then must fight the Triads, Russian Mafia and high-level corrupt New York City politicians as well as police.
Let me be clearer. Safe is an action thriller replete with gun battles and car chases. Mei is a little girl with a great memory. And Luke is man who has lost hope to live. And destiny has it to bring them together. What follows of course, are umpteen number of 'Stathamisms' that leave the audience waiting for more. Little Mei is so good with numbers, she can even correct her teachers. And she is a perfect 'safe house' for a numerical code that computers today fail to be. She is then sent to America where Russian mobsters and corrupt police men want to get the code from her, to lay their hands on an elusive booty. Statham gets involved in the game, and then what follows is what makes the movie what it is – little emotion, less talking, and even less silence.
Statham is interested in the money of course, but apart from it, is also concerned about Mei. No wonder he goes out of his way to make sure the big beasts don't lay a finger on her. His one-liners are to watch out for and his action scenes are to die for.
Thus the film has Jason Statham as Luke Wright, Catherine Chan as Mei, Chris Sarandon as Mayor Tremello, Robert John Burke as Captain Wolf, James Hong as Han Jiao, Reggie Lee, Danny Hoch, Danni Lang, Igor Jijikine as Shemyakin, David Kim as Triad #1 and Anson Mount as Alex Rosen.
The website's consensus says that "while hard-hitting and violently inventive, Safe ultimately proves too formulaic to set itself apart from the action thriller pack – including some of its star's better films." Peter Travers, the film critic for Rolling Stone, gave the film 2 stars out of a possible 4, and said that "the trouble with Safe is that you know where it's going every step of the way". He also added that "Between the fists, kicks, bullets, car chases and broken trachea, the movie could have milked the sentiment of that relationship until you puked. But Statham and the scrappy Chan play it hard. The restraint becomes them. Statham is still playing it safe in Safe, but vulnerability is showing through the cracks." Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film a moderately positive review, saying that "Yakin's slick direction, marked by quick cuts, unstinting energy and a lack of sentimentality, makes the action scenes satisfying," but thought the dialogue was "riddled with clichés." Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times scored the film 3/5, saying "Yakin gives his star plenty of room to look mean, think fast, drive faster, punch, quip, mow down and charismatically bond with the most imperiled child character in screen memory."
On a $30 million budget, principal photography of Safe took place from October to December 2010 in Philadelphia and New York City. Filming scenes in Philadelphia on Broad Street was done on the nights and early mornings of November 17th, 18th and 19th. A class from a Catholic School in downtown Philadelphia was used for a scene depicting a class in China.
Thus Safe is an interesting film to watch. So don't miss it.
The film has an interesting plot. A former NYPD cop rescues a 12-year-old, abducted Chinese girl, then must fight the Triads, Russian Mafia and high-level corrupt New York City politicians as well as police.
Let me be clearer. Safe is an action thriller replete with gun battles and car chases. Mei is a little girl with a great memory. And Luke is man who has lost hope to live. And destiny has it to bring them together. What follows of course, are umpteen number of 'Stathamisms' that leave the audience waiting for more. Little Mei is so good with numbers, she can even correct her teachers. And she is a perfect 'safe house' for a numerical code that computers today fail to be. She is then sent to America where Russian mobsters and corrupt police men want to get the code from her, to lay their hands on an elusive booty. Statham gets involved in the game, and then what follows is what makes the movie what it is – little emotion, less talking, and even less silence.
Statham is interested in the money of course, but apart from it, is also concerned about Mei. No wonder he goes out of his way to make sure the big beasts don't lay a finger on her. His one-liners are to watch out for and his action scenes are to die for.
Thus the film has Jason Statham as Luke Wright, Catherine Chan as Mei, Chris Sarandon as Mayor Tremello, Robert John Burke as Captain Wolf, James Hong as Han Jiao, Reggie Lee, Danny Hoch, Danni Lang, Igor Jijikine as Shemyakin, David Kim as Triad #1 and Anson Mount as Alex Rosen.
The website's consensus says that "while hard-hitting and violently inventive, Safe ultimately proves too formulaic to set itself apart from the action thriller pack – including some of its star's better films." Peter Travers, the film critic for Rolling Stone, gave the film 2 stars out of a possible 4, and said that "the trouble with Safe is that you know where it's going every step of the way". He also added that "Between the fists, kicks, bullets, car chases and broken trachea, the movie could have milked the sentiment of that relationship until you puked. But Statham and the scrappy Chan play it hard. The restraint becomes them. Statham is still playing it safe in Safe, but vulnerability is showing through the cracks." Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film a moderately positive review, saying that "Yakin's slick direction, marked by quick cuts, unstinting energy and a lack of sentimentality, makes the action scenes satisfying," but thought the dialogue was "riddled with clichés." Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times scored the film 3/5, saying "Yakin gives his star plenty of room to look mean, think fast, drive faster, punch, quip, mow down and charismatically bond with the most imperiled child character in screen memory."
On a $30 million budget, principal photography of Safe took place from October to December 2010 in Philadelphia and New York City. Filming scenes in Philadelphia on Broad Street was done on the nights and early mornings of November 17th, 18th and 19th. A class from a Catholic School in downtown Philadelphia was used for a scene depicting a class in China.
Thus Safe is an interesting film to watch. So don't miss it.
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