Rated R, 95 minutes
For all you guys that had to suffer through "The Lucky One" last week, well now's your turn with the new Jason Statham action flick "Safe," an entertaining, crowd-pleasing movie if there ever was one. Statham ("The Transporter" and others) plays Luke Wright, a former New York City cop turned cage fighter who blows a rigged fight and whose life is now shambles. He runs into a genius-level young Chinese girl named Mei (newcomer Catherine Chan, memorable) who is on the run from the Russian mob, the Chinese mob, some corrupt NYPD cops and the mayor himself because she knows some safe codes that unlock millions of dollars for many involved. Now he must save Mei and himself so they can unlock the valuable safe everyone's after. Muddled and predictable for sure, but "Safe" is fast-paced and contains enough chops to satisfy martial arts enthusiasts. Statham is the star and Boaz Yakin ("Remember the Titans") directs, but the real stars are the action set pieces and the fight scenes, which Statham is adept at, not to mention the lovely Chan, stealing most scenes she's in. It's also nice seeing veteran Asian actor James Hong as a baddie and the underrated Chris Sarandon as the corrupt mayor. The rest of "Safe's" plot is formula fluff that's typical for Statham, but it's so backseat (and a bit anti-climactic when you consider the film's title) to the action and martial arts, it won't matter much. Worth a look for a minute until "The Avengers" arrives next week.
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