I got my Jason Statham fix with Safe. I liked it a lot. I'll rank it much higher than The Mechanic remake. Boaz Yakin (Fresh, Remember the Titans) was behind the director and screenwriter. He provided some fun camera and choreography tricks that made a typically formulaic Statham flick more enjoyable. I was very appreciative that you could actually see the action and not have to tolerate this shaky cam nonsense that is ruining Hollyweird's action flicks.
Another aspect I liked was that since the majority of Statham's characters are one dimensional, you didn't get his entire story up front. The further along the movie goes the more you find out his character's history and how he is capable of doing what he does, considering his social status.
Great action, good direction, the kid is cute as hell, especially when she tries shooting a gun. James Hong comes out (Big Trouble in Litlle China, Kung Fu Panda). You know the dude rocks. He gets to play a villain again, which is even cooler. Reggie Lee (Tropic Thunder) plays Hong's right hand baddy Quan Chang and is an actor that I hope gets more work even though he'll suffer from typecasting, but the guy's got serious range. Unfortunately, every time he appeared on screen I couldn't stop thinking about his line in Tropic Thunder, "We are Flaming Dragon!" He does have a miniscule role in Crazy, Stupid, Love (great movie) as a patrol cop.
Safe was much better than I'd hoped. I'd love it if Yakin and Statham worked together again, they meshed really well; and Statham looks ridiculous wearing a beanie. That bowling ball dome of his looks like its agonizing those threads. No more beanies. Go watch Safe.
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