Safe Review

In a break with tradition, Jason Statham plays a tough nut who has to fight his way to justice in an enjoyable action film. I jest of course. Statham has well and truly carved out a niche for himself as the go to guy for bald-headed action brutality now that Bruce Willis is just about past it (except for in the ‘too old for this shit’ sub-genre in the action – seeSurrogates, The Expendables, etc).

So long as The Stathe keeps churning out slightly by the numbers beat ‘em ups, I’ll be happy to keep watching them. The biggest draw in any Jason Statham film is the man’s undeniable charisma. It’s difficult to think of any other action hero who is so universally well-liked (around my office, he’s known simply as ‘Sir Jason’) and he does not disappoint in Safe.

In this film, Statham plays a former super NYPD cop, turned cage fighter, now a street bum, who decides, whilst teetering on the edge of a tube platform not to commit suicide, but instead to rescue a cute Chinese girl Mei from warring factions of Russian and Chinese mobsters. Mei has the combination to a safe full of millions of dollars memorised in her computer-like brain, which obviously makes her brain very popular with all manner of bad men with big guns.

The plot is actually somewhat more complex (convoluted?) than that, but it boils down to Statham punching lots of people in the face and then delivering a wry quip. Which works really well. Writer and director Boaz Yakin keeps things nice and simple and the frequent action set pieces crop up with pleasing regularity.

You could argue that Safe is somewhat unsophisticated, but that’s a bit like complaining that the nice big hammer you’ve just bought is only good for bashing nails into surfaces (and occasionally pulling them out again). Safe does what it sets out to do very effectively and for that it must be commended. Admittedly there is something approaching emotional complexity in Statham’s relationship with his young companion as he fulfils a surrogate father-figure role, but the film wisely doesn’t dwell too much on this aspect.

In summation, Safe is another typical Jason Statham film – and that is by no means a derogatory comment. The man knows how to pick his projects and Safe just as fundamentally enjoyable and easy to watch as the best of The Stathe’s respectable oeuvre. A friend of mine has argued that Sir Jason is the UK’s greatest living actor. Whilst that may not quite be the case, he certainly makes a decent case for the UK’s most reliable former diver in consistently entertaining action roles. Frankly, what more could you want?

Blitz Review

Jason Statham and Paddy Considine as the fuzz kicking arse and taking names on the trail of a cop-killer in South East London, this writer’s very own ends? I’ll take a slice of that pie, please. I had been meaning to catch Blitz at the cinema upon its release, but it didn’t stick around long enough. As such, I was delighted when the test disc dropped through the post for its DVD release.

Statham is, of course, the rogue cop and loose cannon, but by god, does he get results. He’s not afraid to break a few bones (though not his own) in pursuit of justice and is only tolerated on the police force as he’d be too dangerous operating on the other side of the law. He teams up with new boy Considine, who’s just been transferred over from poncey West London. Considine’s character is gay, and though he may get some stick from the lads on the force, he can still kick someone’s testicles in with the best of them. Aiden Gillen (seen lately in his Machiavellian role in Game of Thrones) plays the titular cop-killer in a role that is maniacal and unsettling and David Morrissey fills in as a tabloid journalist.

Blitz is a successful in that it is likely to exceed the expectations of most. You do get a fairly by-the-numbers cops and robbers action thriller, but it’s certainly from the upper echelons of the fairly by-the-numbers cops and robbers action thriller stable. Considine and Morrissey are obviously top class talents and Statham is clearly the best at what he does in the curious little niche he’s carved for himself – the slightly wry British hard-man niche. Elliot Lester’s direction is unfussy and decently done and Nathan Parker (who previously co-wrote the excellent Moon)’s script is similarly no-nonsense.

The only real misfire is the subplot involving a previously undercover cop’s battle with drugs (featuring Zawe Ashton, currently starring in Fresh Meat), which slows down the otherwise slick plotting. The film also has the misfortune of having its cinematic release just prior to and its DVD release just after the recent scandals involving the rozzers and hacks. Whilst Blitz depicts a far from harmonious relationship between these two factions, you’d imagine that had it been made twelve months later, there’d be another interesting theme to be explored.

That said Blitz is an above average, very solid cop movie. Whilst it isn’t exactly the most sedate film I’ve ever seen, I would perhaps have liked it to push its craziness/good taste boundaries a little further – it does threaten to go further over the top, but frequently reigns itself in. Other than that, it’s a very enjoyable film made all the more exciting as I tried and mostly failed to recognise the various fried chicken shops in the background.

The Mechanic Review

Jason Statham is, as we all know, the go-to-guy for violence, stunts and stubble that entirely covers his head. Sylvester Stallone considered his action credentials well established enough to cast him in last year’s The Expendables, alongside such luminaries of the action genre as Jet Li and Dolph Lundgren. Lately, Statham’ stock in trade has been knock-about, tongue in cheek actioners such asDeath Race and the Crank and Transporter movies. But every action idol needs to clock in a semi-serious, half decent film every once in a while to keep credibility in check and to avoid tumbling into embarrassing, straight to DVD self parody, like Steven Seagal. Is The Mechanic another Statham by numbers or a cut above?

Statham plays Arthur Bishop a hitman working for mysterious company, who performs his assignments with a high level of professionalism and proficiency. Bishop is surprised to learn that his next target is a close friend and colleague, Harry McKenna (Sutherland). After dispatching Harry, Bishop takes his adult son, Steve (Foster) under his wing as an apprentice in an effort to channel the young man’s self-destructive tendencies and for companionship. It also stars Tony Goldwyn, star of Ghost, voice of Disney’s Tarzan and director of currently showing Hilary Swank-’em-up, Conviction. Go figure.

I was reasonably surprised to find myself impressed by The Mechanic on several occasions. Perhaps it’s simply the choice of its eye-catching New Orleans location (which certainly lent Bad Lieutenant and even the animated The Princess and the Frog a certain visual flair), but The Mechanic certainly doesn’t look half bad. The film is shot beautifully and creatively, not at all like your average action thriller. The first act manages to just about avoid dullness and comes over all broody, with some of the original’s existential angst thrown in for good measure. Ben Foster (sadly not Birmingham City’s goalkeeper) is surprisingly good in a role that could easily have been over-egged by a lesser talent. The film generally teeters on the edge of stupidity but somehow manages to avoid falling in.

Those not inconsiderable good points aside, the film has some disturbing problems. Most questionable was its treatment of minorities – the only black character in the film is brutally beaten half to death and the only gay character is killed is also brutalised, though this time all the way to death. Of the film’s four female characters (who have about twelve lines collectively) two are prostitutes (one of which asks Foster to ‘hurt me’) and the other two are a mother and daughter who exist simply to be terrorised and tortured by the male leads. This being the twenty-first century, these issues are really quite inexcusable in any film, but especially in one that would like us to take it seriously.

The film is utterly amoral in its outlook too, but it was actually quite refreshing not to have clear cut good and bad characters. It did make for a vaguely unsatisfying ending, however, as you’re never really sure which of this nasty bunch of characters you want to prevail. The violence was also really quite horrible and nasty, though again, it is something of a relief to have some realism and not ‘cartoon’ violence, as in so many action films. When people get punched, it looks bloody painful and when they get shot, all this red stuff comes spurting out. There’s actually a great deal more red stuff spurting about than I would have expected for a film with a fifteen certificate, which, coupled with a gratuitous and largely unnecessary sex scene (does anyone really want to see a nude Jason Statham grunting all over some poor woman?) must surely push the boundaries of what is acceptable at this age bracket (largely by not portraying any of the above ‘glamorously’, according to the BBFC report).

So, in spite of some incredibly poor creative decisions, The Mechanic does remain a beautifully shot and even somewhat interesting film that perhaps stands a bit above standard action fodder.