Safe

The latest in a long line of generic Jason Statham thrillers, Safe follows special-agent-turned-fighter Luke Wright (Statham) as he impulsively saves the life of a little girl (Catherine Chan’s Mei) and subsequently finds himself drawn into a bloody gang war. It’s a generic yet promising setup that’s employed to consistently underwhelming effect by Boaz Yakin, as the writer/director, in addition to offering up an incongruously slow-paced opening half hour, has pervasively infused the proceedings with the feel of a second-rate, straight-to-video-like thriller involving crooked cops and sleazy mobsters. Far more problematic, however, is Yakin’s incompetent handling of the movie’s various action sequences, with such moments, including a promising set-piece in which Statham’s character takes on over a dozen thugs within a crowded restaurant, drained of their energy (and coherence) by jittery camerawork and rapid-fire editing. (This sort of thing has become de rigueur as far as contemporary action flicks go, but seriously, enough is enough.) There is, as such, little doubt that Statham’s expectedly engrossing performance is slowly-but-surely rendered moot, and it does become harder and harder to overlook the lulls that inevitably crop up as the narrative grows increasingly convoluted and complicated. And although the movie ends on an unexpectedly positive note, Safe is, by and large, just another hopelessly misguided modern actioner that makes one long for the comparatively masterful output of the 1980s.

** out of ****