Unapologetic in depiction of violence

Film review: Safe 

MANILA, Philippines - I call them taong bato, action heroes without super powers and with facial muscles that are as hard as their pecs or abs or whatever. Think Jean Claude Van Damme in Kickboxer, Steven Seagal in Under Siege or Dolph Lundgren in He-Man Masters Of The Universe.

To be fair though, there are cases when they do sometimes get aha acting moments. These are in films where their characters blend in so naturally with the illogical derring-do to become an enjoyable piece of cinema. Remember Sylvester Stallone in Rocky or Bruce Willis in Die Hard or Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies.

 Jason Statham is the youngest of this batch. He got the creds early in his career. He starred in movies like Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, The Transporter, The Italian Job and his best, The Bank Job. But he also got his share of thug roles. Crank, The One, Rogue Assassin. He was last seen in The Expendables, where age-compromised action stars got to kick some butts.

That was fun but I thought it was too early for Statham to be lumped with the veterans. So, it was good to find him in Safe where he is a disillusioned cop cum cage fighter on the run from the Russian mob. Here he gets to do the usual slam-bang heroics while looking cynical and but surprises of surprises, also turn in some sensitive acting. Thanks to Safe, it is time again to take Statham seriously.

The safe in the title means two things. It is the safe containing millions that the Russian mafia, the Chinese Triad and corrupt New York cops are all after. These crime gangs have been doing good business because the attention of the police is focused on terrorists. Safe is also Statham as Luke Wright keeping Mei, a young Chinese girl safe from those goons. 

Mei is a Math prodigy who was brought to New York because she has the numeric code that will open the safe in her head. Luke met her while she was trying to escape the Russians and while he was getting ready to kill himself under a subway train. With his protective cop instinct aroused, Luke forgets his dire situation to fight the enemies and keep Mei safe.

Writer-director Boaz Yakin has made a typical Statham movie. Safe is heavy action, all testosterone-fuelled and unapologetic in its depiction of violence. It also presents a kind of New York we do not dream about. No way you will be doing breakfast at Tiffany’s in a place like this. Post 9/11, it is dark, dangerous, almost predatory.  

With the great city in fine acting mode, I suppose it was easy for Yakin to turn his attention to Statham. He stripped the guy of the British accent, taught him how to show suffering from inside and then gave him a charming, capable partner in Catherine Chan as Mei. The girl is a natural, wonderfully devoid of the acting gimmickry often found in well-trained child actors. 

The rewards have lately been rare. Sitting through a bad picture can be an excruciating experience. Safe though, is a good example that it can be okay to take chances with movie going again. I initially dismissed this one as another taong bato outing. Lots of static faces and expendable bodies. How nice to find out that it is not. It is much, much more than that.

Truth to tell, Safe brought back something that hard-assed action flicks seem to have lost for a long time. Humanity. Those heroes are not super. They just try to be to do good. They are ordinary guys rising to the demands of extraordinary circumstances. How enjoyable to see that Safe makes this process almost believable. 

I can now forgive Yakin for what he did to Prince of Persia and there is no need anymore for Statham to be in Expendables 3. From what I saw in Safe, he will do fine on his own for many more years.