Safe

SAFE (2012) - May 12, 2012
A decent action film featuring a typically awesome Jason Statham taking on Triads, the Russian Mafia, corrupt cops and more in an attempt to protect a young girl who has memorized a dangerous piece of information.  The film does a lot right -- the idea of Jason Statham essentially taking on the entirety of New York's underworld is pretty great, and the film does a good job of setting it all up.  Where director Boaz Yakin really stumbles, however, is in the action itself, which is kind of a big deal in an action movie like this.  The action is generally decent enough -- it's really well-choreographed and it should have been exciting, but Yakin undermines it at every turn with his uncomfortably tight framing and shaky cinematography.  It's generally passable, even if it could have been so much better -- right up until the disastrous final shootout in the casino, which is far too chaotic and pretty much completely incomprehensible.  It definitely leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth.  It's too bad, because I really liked a lot things about this movie -- if it had only been directed by someone with a better handle on how to shoot action, I'm pretty sure it could have been an instant classic.  **1/2