Don't point that thing at me, Curly
dir: Boaz Yakin
Jason Statham playing a character who kills lots of people? That’s a radical turn up for the books.
In the eternal pub argument of Caveman versus Astronaut, Ninja versus Pirate and Pussycat Doll versus Spice Girl, there’s the unfortunate real world competition of which is worse: Russian gangsters or Chinese triads? This film makes the same comparison, but posits it by asking: which is tougher? The answer is, of course, Jason Statham.
Or at least the thinly veiled stand-in character for himself, some guy called Luke Wright. You know, because he’s always Right! He gets on the bad side of the Russians, and they not only ruin his life by murdering his family, they intend to keep his life in a heightened state of ruination in an ongoing fashion. It’s a curious state, because I can’t imagine Russian gangsters having the follow-through long term to keep hassling someone like they do the main character here, and not just killing him as an example to all the other noble loners out there. They tell him, as he walks the earth in the time remaining to him, that any person with whom he shares even a single human moment with, they’ll be there to kill them.
It’s not going to do wonderful things for your state of mind, I imagine. Misery upon misery, he sees the only obvious way out, but demurs at the very last moment, because he sees a girl in trouble. Thank gods there was a girl in trouble, because otherwise: short film.
This girl, Mei (Catherine Chan) is a prime asset prized by the triads, and much sought after by the same Russians who despoiled Luke’s life. What an odd convergence of paths, eh? I wonder if Luke will endeavour to redeem himself by protecting the girl at all costs?
Why is eleven-year-old Mei so sought after? Why are the triads prepared to kill hundreds of innocent bystanders to either get her back or kill her themselves? Why are the Russians prepared to give up their own firstborns in order to get their vodka-soaked, borsht-smeared hands on her?
She’s good with numbers. Really good with numbers. And plus, she’s really good at tax returns. You should see how she finds deductibles and rebates.
This poor girl, orphaned and all, is something of a savant, but that wouldn’t really matter to Our Hero, would it? I mean, presumably, he would save her even if she couldn’t figure out what the square root of 36 was, or couldn’t operate a calculator. Although he probably wouldn’t like her as much.
If this all sounds vaguely reminiscent, or strongly reminiscent, of Leon: The Professional, or Mercury Rising, or Man on Fire or dozens of other action movies, rest assured that this is nothing like those other flicks. Well, it’s not entirely like those other flicks, because those other flicks didn’t have Jason Statham in them.
And if it sounds like the Jason Statham action vehicle The Transporter, rest assured that whilst that flick had him protecting a Chinese girl, this flick is completely different. Most importantly, that girl was an adult, Your Honour, or at least that’s what she told him at the time.
No, this one is pure innocence and chaste brutality as he viciously and with malice aforethought uses his conviction that he must protect Mei at all costs to justify killing what seemed like hundreds of people, whether they’re Russians, triads or corrupt cops. There are so many Russians, triads and corrupt cops, so that’s a lot of killing to get through in a fleeting amount of screen time.
Boaz Yakin made, back in the 90s, one of my absolute all-time favourite films, being Fresh, about another child prodigy who happens to be a twelve-year-old drug dealer. It was a tremendous flick, but that was 18 years ago. He’s taken a long time to make a violent action flick, but, truth be told, he’s very good at it. He shouldn’t have waited this long.
Safe is speedy and ferocious, and it keeps moving at all times, avoiding constantly the temptation to devolve into a mawkish examination of the lead character’s, or anyone’s for that matter, feelings. That poor young girl is kidnapped, threatened constantly by people pretending to be the parental figures she craves, witness to multiple tortures and killings, and soldiers on with nary a complaint. Luke has his entire life sadistically destroyed by cruel bastards, and is given about 5 seconds of screen time to feel that sadness.
Yes, the most amazing sight in a flick where criminal’s bones are twisted and shattered by bullets in ways even the NRA’s loyal drones and UFC fans would wince over is the sight of Jason Statham shedding a lone tear. The tear itself struggles, fights, if you will, its way out of his muscular tear duct, having to really earn its way out of his hyper-masculine cheek. It’s like watching John Wayne cry.
These few seconds are the only ones allowed for worthless, human sentiment. Everything else, as Mei understands, has to be pure business. It’s perfectly efficient in the service of its objectives, and, as such, I have to say that this is a very good example and exemplar of the genre.
I’m not saying it’s a great film, per se, but I am saying it’s a very good example of its type. It’s ruthlessly streamlined, and more than reminiscent of the kinds of effective cop thrillers that Hong Kong was pumping out in the late 80s early 90s that weren’t about gun ballet, but about vicious gangsters and vicious cops battling it out for the corrupt soul of the city.
In the service of such objectives, there are two other things worth noting. It’s pretty nasty, in some places. It’s not just a matter of cruelty, and it perhaps exceeds the bounds of believability when the triads massacre a whole bunch of people in New York city in this age and political climate, thinking that it’ll somehow fly. There’s no way it could, even with the collusion of cops and politicians. This isn’t Gotham City fer crying old loud, Joker.
One of the other reasons it reminded me of some 80s cop action flicks, like the first Lethal Weapon, is because the corruption at the heart of the story in those flicks had to do with the Vietnam War. The taint of America’s failure there, and its impact upon the former US soldiers now starring as antagonists in a cop buddy picture, drove at least part of the rationale for the action.
Here, it’s not 9/11 itself that has infected and corrupted the souls of these men, but the choices made in the aftermath that perhaps created monsters worse than the ones feared. Sure, sure, New York dramas set currently can’t really escape the massiveness of that gargantuan event, but this flick, despite its pulpy origins, provides a new spin on it.
The action is fine, and shot really well, in inventive ways. The cinematography, something I would never think I would compliment in a Jason Statham flick, is pretty darn fantastic. There are some fairly nasty gun battles as well, which play out like urban warfare rather than the cops and robbers stuff we regard almost as comedies these days.
Statham is the slab of Statham he always is, but, as per usual, that doesn’t compromise the film in the slightest. It probably helps a flick like this. He attacks some of those Russians like he really does hate them, for which I feel a bit sorry for the stunt people involved. He’s really good at these kinds of flicks, and his lack of emotional range is hardly a problem in the service of such a ruthlessly efficient crime extravaganza.
Even with that being said, he expresses a gentleness with Mei that’s almost touching, that’s almost surprising, because it doesn’t compromise or undercut the action or the dark, desperate tone of the flick. Double and triple crosses may abound, and a character may come out of nowhere to act as the ultimate Big Bad (hilariously undercut by certain actions Mei takes at the end), but they seem like they just want to survive much more than the baddies want to kill them.
I liked it, in fact I downright admired this flick. There’s skill in doing this kind of thing properly, and there’s skill in keeping something like this propelled at a proper pace while still getting me to care about characters (however unbelievable they may be) without resorting to sentimental treacle.
This flick managed to do all that and more, and even managed to make an ambiguous ending seem satisfying and appropriate.
I’m happy with it, Boaz. I just hope it doesn’t take you another 18 years to make another great flick.
7 ways in which I can think of easier ways to store a long number out of 10
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“I’ll have a white Russian, and a fork” – drink one, stab t'other - Safe
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