A gifted adolescent girl forcibly brought to the US from China is rescued by chance by a distraught stranger in Safe. The two must then safeguard themselves as they embark on a dangerously clever undertaking to outwit the bad guys, who highly revile the man and want to exploit the girl's rare talent for personal gain.
Can the accidental pair pull off a 'mission-impossible?' Isn't that the joy of cinema: being able to suspend reality? With imagination and creative license—anything is possible, right? Still, the random encounter seems far-fetched, given their meeting occurs at such a dire time in Jason Statham's life.
Just the sheer coincidence of it happening at the very moment he decides to chuck it all, goes against the odds. You can only suspend reality so far before glaring lack of a crucial element like probability has to be attributed to either a hole in the script or its editing.
When Statham eyes several crooked cops he recognizes in a New York City subway pursuing the distressed minor named Mei, whom he later discovers is a virtual orphan, he immediately springs to her aid. After winning her trust he becomes Mei's sole protector and is determined to keep her safe.
The young actress does an exceptional job as an innocent, mathematical whiz kid pandering to the familiar stereotype of Asian students possessing natural abilities in math and science (although they do rank higher than American-born schoolchildren). It's safe to say, Safe initially offers little discernment. The art of flashback necessary for setting-up and/or establishing the back-story—handled effectively by most filmmakers—is wholly underutilized. Key events needed to lead into the present day drama are blindly glossed over and insufficiently used for the full benefit of clarity—at the onset and mid-way through.
The story eventually culminates into a hard-hitting,quick-paced action thriller—and crowd pleaser, although it takes a bit longer to get there. In the role of ex-cage fighter, Statham demonstrates how deft he is at fighting off multiple opponents, proving again that he can hold his own in comparison to past big screen tough, austere good guy-at-heart/heroes in his quest to protect the frightened youngster.
The audience agreed, cheering and applauding the well-orchestrated, intense brawls in which the British actor displays pure brawn.
However, the overused rapid-fire pacing likely deployed for the sake of intensity not only reflects a common unmistakable flaw of contemporary films but, is also unfortunately, a sign of the times.
Can the accidental pair pull off a 'mission-impossible?' Isn't that the joy of cinema: being able to suspend reality? With imagination and creative license—anything is possible, right? Still, the random encounter seems far-fetched, given their meeting occurs at such a dire time in Jason Statham's life.
Just the sheer coincidence of it happening at the very moment he decides to chuck it all, goes against the odds. You can only suspend reality so far before glaring lack of a crucial element like probability has to be attributed to either a hole in the script or its editing.
When Statham eyes several crooked cops he recognizes in a New York City subway pursuing the distressed minor named Mei, whom he later discovers is a virtual orphan, he immediately springs to her aid. After winning her trust he becomes Mei's sole protector and is determined to keep her safe.
The young actress does an exceptional job as an innocent, mathematical whiz kid pandering to the familiar stereotype of Asian students possessing natural abilities in math and science (although they do rank higher than American-born schoolchildren). It's safe to say, Safe initially offers little discernment. The art of flashback necessary for setting-up and/or establishing the back-story—handled effectively by most filmmakers—is wholly underutilized. Key events needed to lead into the present day drama are blindly glossed over and insufficiently used for the full benefit of clarity—at the onset and mid-way through.
The story eventually culminates into a hard-hitting,quick-paced action thriller—and crowd pleaser, although it takes a bit longer to get there. In the role of ex-cage fighter, Statham demonstrates how deft he is at fighting off multiple opponents, proving again that he can hold his own in comparison to past big screen tough, austere good guy-at-heart/heroes in his quest to protect the frightened youngster.
The audience agreed, cheering and applauding the well-orchestrated, intense brawls in which the British actor displays pure brawn.
However, the overused rapid-fire pacing likely deployed for the sake of intensity not only reflects a common unmistakable flaw of contemporary films but, is also unfortunately, a sign of the times.