Safe

Evan and I went to see Safe this week. The safe in the title refers to two things. One, the noun that the heroes are trying to break into. And two, the adjective describing the state of being that Jason Statham is trying to keep in the little Chinese girl in. There’s also a hidden third one – the type of role that this is for Jason Statham. Is he required to act? To emote? To play a different type of person than he has for several movies? Nope. It’s a safe role. Anyway, previews for this week were for Savages (a flick I have barely heard of, but couldn’t get the name), Total Recall (Evan got that), Piranha 3DD (Which I got), Looper (Which I got, and which is going on the list), and The ExpendablesII (Which I got, winning the week).

The movie starts in a subway station, and then immediately flashes back one hour, then one day, and finally one year to set up all the threads. One year ago, a little Chinese girl (Mei) was supposed to be transferred to a genius school, but was abducted by the Chinese mafia and sent to America to help with accounting (she’s got an eidetic memory for numbers, which is something that comes up in fiction far more than in real life. There’s been only one recorded case, although a bunch of people come really close). She’s let into the country with her “father” and the paperwork is handled by some corrupt cops.

Also one year ago, a fighter named Luke Wright (Statham) was supposed to take a dive in a fight on the lower boxing circuit. He hits his opponent once, sending him to the hospital, and losing a million dollars for the man who set up the fight, as well as several millions for the Russian mafia, who bet against him (never mind that the FBI would be highly suspicious of that kind of activity on a lower tiered boxing match). The Russians kill his wife in revenge, and nearly kill him too. Instead, they let him go with the promise that they’ll be watching his every move, and threaten everyone around him. He abandons his house to protect his landlord and becomes a hobo, living in shelters and keeping everyone away.

One day ago, Mei is on her regular routes with her "father", and figures out that the casino the Chinese run is losing money. The Chinese beat and then kill the floor manager. Elsewhere, Luke checks into a shelter and gives his shoes to a neighbouring bum who suffers some sort of foot disease.

The next morning, the neighboring bum has a knife-made smile right below his adam’s apple. Luke is questioned, then banished from the shelter. He tries to buy a coffee, but finds out his wallet’s been stolen by a pickpocket who ran into him earlier. He’s forced out by a cop, who finally recognizes him as an ex-officer who ratted a bunch of cirty cops out. The dirty cops take him to a nearby construction site and beat him for a while, asking him why he doesn’t kill himself to reunite with his wife. They let him go after he refuses suicide by cop. He goes to a subway station and contemplates jumping in front of an oncoming train.

Mei is given a rather long number (somewhere between 150 and 200 digits), then told to get another one from another man, and then she’ll get some final instructions. While travelling, her convoy is hit by the Russians, who have a shootout with the Chinese, and Mei is kidnapped. The Russians want the number Mei has, but she refuses to tell. Before they can torture her (how sadistic are they?) the meeting is interrupted by the police. In the ensuing confusion, Mei slips out and heads to the subway, back where the movie started.

So dirty cops, the Russian mob, and the Chinese Mob all want Mei. Luke involves himself to save her (she caught his eye went he almost killed himself), and the action rolls from there.

The main problem is that it takes a while to set up the action, and then there’s a lot of story left once the action stops. The movie is divided into thirds, and only the middle third is any good. Mind you, that middle third is filled with Jason Statham doing Jason Statham things, so that’s awesome. But I was hoping for more Statham-ness throughout the movie, not just in the middle.

On the other hand, the action is really good when it gets going. The director tends to put his camera in really interesting places, and not to shake it around too much. For example, when the Chinese get ambushed by the Russians, the camera moves smoothly in and out of the car where Mei is. We’ll see one guy get shot, and another run offscreen, only to get blown back on, and then the camera will pan to the shooter, who’ll get gunned down by a soon to be revealed shooter (who’ll mostly likely end up dead quite soon). It makes it easy and interesting to follow the action, which is something I wish more directors would do.

Only nearing the end do they resort to the shaky cam, for some of the last stunts Statham performs. Other than that, it’s all very good. Too bad it’s limited to the middle part of the movie. What’s this plot stuff they insist take up  most of the movie?

Despite the lack of consistent action, it’s still a blu-ray movie for me. Statham does enough that I’m happy, and the camera work is so interesting that I can’t rate it any lower. Of course, there’s not enough to rate it higher. The soundtrack isn’t very good, but it’s not terrible. Largely forgettable. Any fan of action movies should probably see this (though probably not in theatres) and any director should take notes. Seriously. Enough with the shaky cam. If your stars can’t do action, they shaking the camera does not fake it. We’re not buying it. We’re just getting sick.