Safe (2012 film)
| Safe | |
|---|---|
 Teaser poster | |
| Directed by | Boaz Yakin |
| Written by | Boaz Yakin |
| Produced by | Lawrence Bender Dana Brunetti |
| Starring | Jason Statham Chris Sarandon Robert John Burke James Hong |
| Cinematography | Stefan Czapsky |
| Edited by | Frederic Thoraval |
| Music by | Mark Mothersbaugh |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Lionsgate |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 million |
| Box office | $30,533,269 [2] |
Safe is an action film written and directed by Boaz Yakin and starring Jason Statham.
Plot
A second-rate cage fighter on the mixed martial arts circuit, Luke Wright (Jason Statham) lives a numbing life of routine beatings and chump change…until the day he blows a rigged fight. Wanting to make him an embarrassment the Russian Mafia murders his wife and banishes him from his life forever, leaving Luke to wander the streets of New York destitute, haunted by guilt, and tormented by the knowledge that he will always be watched, and anyone he develops a relationship with will also be killed. But when he witnesses a frightened eleven-year-old Chinese girl, Mei (Catherine Chan), being pursued by the same gangsters who killed his wife, Luke impulsively jumps to action…and straight into the heart of a deadly high-stakes war. Mei, he discovers, is no ordinary girl, but an orphaned math prodigy forced to work for the Triads as a "counter". He discovers she holds in her memory a priceless numerical code that the Triads, the Russian mob and a corrupt faction of the NYPD will kill for. Realizing he’s the only person Mei can trust, Luke tears a swath through the city’s brutal underworld to save an innocent girl’s life…and perhaps even redeem his own.
Cast
- Jason Statham as Luke Wright[3]
- Catherine Chan as Mei[3]
- Chris Sarandon as Mayor Tremello
- Robert John Burke as Captain Wolf[3]
- James Hong as Han Jiao[3]
- Reggie Lee as Quan Chang[3]
- Danny Hoch[3]
- Danni Lang as Ling[4]
- Igor Jijikine as Shemyakin
- David Kim as Triad #1
- Anson Mount as Alex Rosen
Production
Safe was announced on May 6, 2010.[5] The film is the first in a three-film distribution deal between IM Global (who also produced and fully financed) and Lionsgate, the other two being Pete Travis' Dredd and Simon West's Protection. Lawrence Bender Productions, Trigger Street Productions, Automatik Entertainment, and 87eleven Action Design also produced.[6]
On a $30 million budget, principal photography took place from October to December 2010 in Philadelphia and New York City.[7][8] Filming scenes in Philadelphia on Broad Street was done on the nights and early mornings of November 17, 18, and 19.[8] A class from a Catholic School in downtown Philadelphia was used for a scene depicting a class in China.
The film premiered on November 18, 2011, in Ireland.[1] In the United States, the film was scheduled to be released on October 28, 2011,[9] and March 2, 2012, but was eventually pushed back to April 27, 2012.[4]
Reception
Safe has garnered mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 54% of critics have given the film a positive review, with 25 being positive out of a total of 46 reviews counted. The film fared only slightly better with the website's hand-picked 'top critics', which has a score of 57%. The site's consensus says that "while hard-hitting and violently inventive, Safe ultimately proves too formulaic to set itself apart from the action thriller pack – including some of its star's better films."[10] Peter Travers, the film critic for Rolling Stone, gave the film 2 stars out of a possible 4, and said that "the trouble with Safe is that you know where it's going every step of the way". He also added that "Between the fists, kicks, bullets, car chases and broken trachea, the movie could have milked the sentiment of that relationship until you puked. But Statham and the scrappy Chan play it hard. The restraint becomes them. Statham is still playing it safe in Safe, but vulnerability is showing through the cracks.".[11] Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film a moderately positive review, saying that "Yakin's slick direction, marked by quick cuts, unstinting energy and a lack of sentimentality, makes the action scenes satisfying," but thought the dialogue was "riddled with clichés."[12] Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times scored the film 3/5, saying "Yakin gives his star plenty of room to look mean, think fast, drive faster, punch, quip, mow down and charismatically bond with the most imperiled child character in screen memory."[13]
References
- ^ a b http://www.iftn.ie/distribution/IrishCinemaReleaseDiary/
- ^ "'Safe' (2012)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
- ^ a b c d e f "Safe Cast". Allrovi. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved September 11, 2011.
- ^ a b "Safe". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
- ^ Zeitchik, Steven (May 6, 2010). "Jason Statham doesn't play it safe". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
- ^ Thompson, Jack (August 17, 2011). "Another 'Safe' Movie for Jason Statham?". Get the Big Picture blog. Complex Media Network. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
- ^ McNary, Dave (October 6, 2010). "'Safe' conduct for IM Global". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
- ^ a b Dillon, Hughe (October 25, 2010). "HughE Dillon: Jason Statham To Close Down Broad Street". Philadelphia magazine. Metrocorp. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
- ^ Abraham, Zennie (August 16, 2011). "Jason Statham's "Safe" Movie Poster Out, Lionsgate Release October 28, 2011". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 11, 2011.
- ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/safe_2011/
- ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/safe-20120426
- ^ "Most Popular E-mail Newsletter". USA Today. April 26, 2012.
- ^ Abele, Robert (April 27, 2012). "Review: 'Safe' is protected by Jason Statham". Los Angeles Times.