one of my absolute favorites!

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The film opens with Luke Wright (Jason Statham) as a Jersey ring fighter. While fighting an Internet sensation, Statham was supposed to take a dive. He hit the guy once and put him into a coma to the dismay of the Russian mafia who then kills his family and anyone who talks to Statham. While contemplating suicide, Jason espies a Chinese girl attempting to avoid the same Russian mafia. With nothing to lose, Jason springs into action.The girl (Catherine Chan) has memorized a safe combination for the Chinese mafia, which the Russians want. In order to save the girl, Statham must battle the Russian mafia, Chinese mafia, and the crooked NYPD who are on the take. Jason has a past that makes him more than qualified to take them on.The movie has numerous chase scenes, shoot outs, fights, and general tough guy stuff. We get a glimpse of Statham doing some compassionate acting (he actually sheds a tear) and let me say... "It ain't pretty." The heartless cold calculating tough guy is his best role. Jason and the girl have good chemistry, there just wasn't enough of it. Good intensity. Good pace, i.e. decent editing.PARENTAL GUIDE: F-bombs, no sex or nudity.

Being a self-confessed fan of Jason Statham (yes, I am seeking professional help for this affliction) I was looking forward to Safe - a film where the cheeky half cockney/half New Yorker takes a young girl under his muscular wing in order to protect her from not just the Triads, but Russian mobsters and even a branch of dirty cops.Obviously we know that 'the Stath' will win though, kicking many heads along the way, but it's the journey we're interested in.Many people will have seen him do something similar in the Transporter (1 through however many have been made since I wrote this). And he did it well for that franchise, i.e. despatching armies of incompetent bad guys without a bead of sweat trickling off his shiny dome. However, here, in Safe, it all gets a little too serious.Statham's previous efforts seem to have a degree of 'knowingness' about them, as if they're just a little tongue-in-cheek (think Roger Moore's James Bond stint, but with less hair of course). In Safe, the bad guys are indeed ten-a-penny and pretty generic. In fact, there's barely one that you'll remember - just see them as Russian Hood #12 and Dirty Cop #4 and that's about as much character development as you're going to get there.Other people have drawn comparisons with the Bruce Willis film Mercury Rising, where he has to protect a youngster from all sorts of gangs. I haven't seen that one, so I can't comment.Overall, Safe isn't bad. There are shootouts. There are fist-fights and even a car chase or two. However, it all just seems a little run-of-the-mill. With the Transporter franchise you had flashy sets and over-the-top action. Here, you have the grimy backdrop of New York at night and a feeling you've seen most of this before.Okay, probably most enjoyed by Statham die-hards, but if you're looking for a generic action flick to fill 1 hr 20 minutes, you could do worse than Safe.Not bad, just nothing that special. Roll on Expendables 3 (or 8, depending on how long they drag the franchise out for).

Safe is unique compared many movies in its genre. As a big Statham fan, I enjoyed him taking on a brand new role that required him to flex his acting chops a bit. He takes on many faces with grace. Not exactly Oscar worthy but enough to impress. The relationship between him and his co-star is something new as well. He not only protects the kid out of a sense a duty, like almost every action hero has to date, but because they literally need each other. Their relationship is mutual, adding a very different feel, humane feel to the movie that has been seen sense Dakota Fanning and D. Washington. The action sequences are bold and quite unique in comparison to Statham's other films, although a little gruesome at time. In the end, everything from the characters to the plot to the setting is all very unique. There is nothing really predicable about this movie. Its just... different. For Statham fans out there, you might enjoy this one!

I just about remembered the title of this because of the leading actor in it, and this was rated reasonably well by critics as three out of five stars, so I was up for watching it, directed by Boaz Yakin (Remember the Titans). Basically in China little girl Mei (Catherine Chan) is a maths genius is abducted by the Chinese Triads, their boss Han Jiao (James Hong) wants to use the memory skills of the young human computer, she is taken and cared by brutal gangster Quan Chang (Reggie Lee), and they travel to Chinatown in New York City. In the city is ex- cop and cage fighter Luke Wright (Jason Statham) who had his life destroyed after winning a fixed fight and accidentally killing his opponent, this angered Russian Mafia head Emile Docheski (Sándor Técsy) who sent his son Vassily (Joseph Sikora) to kill Luke's pregnant wife, and since then he has become an alcoholic homeless tramp with no direction in life. A year later, Han Jiao wants Mei to memorise a long numerical code which holds the key to something precious, soon though she is abducted from the Chinese mob by the Russian Mafia, but she manages to escape, and is now on the run from the Russians, corrupt cops from the NYPD and the Triads, but a cleaned up Luke notices her in trouble and protects her. Hiding in a hotel Mei explains the numerical code to Luke, he realises it is the combination to a safe, Quan manages to catch up with Mei using a tracking device and she is taken again, but Luke gets in contact with other mob types to kidnap Vassily, and he threatens Docheski unless he explains where the safe is and what is inside it. Docheski explains that the code is for a safe containing $30,000,000, there is also a second safe with unknown contents, needing a team to get to and crack the safe Luke recruits Captain Wolf (Robert John Burke) and his detectives, they agree Luke runs the show as he has also memorised the combination and they split the money between. The team manage to fight the numerous Triad gangsters and get to the safe, but as Luke is about to open Wolf tries to betray him, but he kills the remaining detectives and kidnaps Wolf, putting him in the boot of the car alongside Vassily. Mei is rescued after Luke bribes Alex Rosen (Anson Mount), who works for Mayor Tremello (Chris Sarandon), and who reveals the second safe belong to the mayor and contains a disc with data on his corrupt deals, while Alex kills Quan and his men, with Mei watching. Luke retrieves a copy of the disc, but he will not let Alex have it and suggests a fight for it, but before they can start Mei shoots and wounds Alex, with Luke finishing him off, he gives Wolf $50,000 and instructs him to return Vassily to his father, the rest of the money is sent to Han to buy Mei's freedom, he threatens his operations if he tries to get Mei back, Han leaves New York angered and Luke hides copies of the disc all over the city, Mei asks if they are finally safe, Luke says that they just take it one day at a time. Also starring Sándor Técsy as Emile Docheski, Igor Jijikine as Chemyakin, James Colby as Detective Mears, Matt O'Toole as Detective Lasky, Jack Gwaltney as Detective Reddick, Barry Bradford as Detective Benoit and Jay Giannone as Detective Kolfax. Statham does his usual deadpan hero as well as you'd expect, Chan is cute as the young brain box who needs his protection, I admit some of chatty sequences are a tiny bit complicated and slow the pace down a little, but the small heist element, martial arts fight sequences and chases make up for it, not a bad action thriller. Worth watching!