Safe (2012)
Certified: 14
Duration: 95 minutes
Directed by: Boaz Yakin
Starring: Jason Statham, Chris Sarandon, Sandor Tecsy, Joseph Sikora, Catherine Chan, James Hong, Reggie Lee, Robert John Burke, Matt O’Toole
KRS release

Safe is typical bang-in-your-face gritty action fare that continues to prove that Jason Statham is one of the best action heroes of the decade.

Sporting a permanent frown and a chip on his shoulder, Mr Statham ploughs through Safe with an enviable vigour.

The film brings to the fore the 1990s attitude of action film-making with the lone hero facing off insurmountable odds.

Ex-cop Luke Wright (Jason Statham) once had the job of cleaning up New York of crime in a no-holds-barred fashion.

He had been placed on the job by Mayor Tramello (Chris Sarandon) but things went wrong and he ended up becoming a cage fighter.

Trouble rears its head again when he runs foul of Russian mob boss Emile Docheski (Sandor Tecsy) who sends his son Vassily (Joseph Sikora) to exact revenge.

A loved one of Wright ends up dead and Wright gets the message that if he builds a relationship with anyone else, they too will be killed.

When Luke feels like ending his life he meets Mei (Catherine Chan), an 11-year-old girl who is a child prodigy when it comes to numbers.

She is being utilised by the Chinese triads to remember long series of numbers and is being chased by the Russian mob.

The numbers she knows are highly in demand and everyone’s after her, including the New York cops.

Luke decides to help her out while at the same time trying to figure out what the numbers mean.

From the way Boaz Yakin structures the film, we are immediately on Luke’s side.

We are presented with a bevy of bad and sleazy guys from Russian Mafia, Chinese triads and corrupt cops with one cute girl to protect!

It’s impossible not to be on his side and cheer him on.

Mr Yakin goes over the top in his script but Mr Statham and Mr Yakin’s direction keep the movie chugging along with a straight face and the result is a lean and mean film that is both a throwback and homage to action films of the past.

Mr Yakin also sets some nicely choreographed sequences including three in crowded environments: a Chinatown nightclub, a subway car and a hotel restaurant.

These are eye-catching and chaotic at the same time.

The film is physical in its approach and its camerawork further enhances this feeling as it gets up-close and personal with the action.

Charles Bronson in his heyday would have yearned for such direction!