Metascore

Mixed or average reviews - based on 25 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 75 Ratings

  • Starring: Catherine Chan, Chris Sarandon, Jason Statham
  • Summary: A second-rate cage fighter on the mixed martial arts circuit, Luke Wright lives a numbing life of routine beatings and chump change... until the day he blows a rigged fight. Wanting to make an example of him, the Russian Mafia murders his family 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 twelve-year-old Chinese girl, Mei, 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. (Lionsgate) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 25
  2. Negative: 2 out of 25
  1. Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    Apr 26, 2012
    90
    Safe is both a slavish imitation of cinema gone by and a movie for our time. I found it wickedly entertaining and perversely refreshing in its total lack of contemporary piety.
  2. Reviewed by: Kim Newman
    Apr 30, 2012
    80
    A rough, exhausting, exhilarating action picture with a payoff which would have delighted Sam Fuller or Howard Hawks. The Stath - an actual Olympian, remember - is on top form.
  3. Reviewed by: James Mottram
    May 7, 2012
    60
    With Yakin's all-action plot operating like clockwork, an on-song Statham proves anything but expendable in a genre he dominates. Predictable, sure, but equally pleasurable.
  4. Reviewed by: Tom Russo
    Apr 30, 2012
    38
    Writer-director Boaz Yakin delivers his conflicting elements mostly as intended, and with obvious ambition. But he fails to take care of certain fundamentals - most problematically, coaxing out the emotion he's seeking from Statham and young newcomer Catherine Chan.

See all 25 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 26
  2. Negative: 3 out of 26
  1. Awesome movie with insanely cool action, terrific acting, and a great plot. It's one of the best action movies I've seen in a long time and I highly recommend it. Expand
  2. Safe is safe for the most part, not much blood, and no sex scenes.I thought it was a good movie. Did it have allot of action? YES! And what is wrong with that? It had a good enough story to fill in between the drama. I don`t understand how people go into a movie like this expecting some kind of deep story. Expand
  3. Probably the best Statham film, action wise, in the past few years. Lots of good, solid action and the plot, while filled with plenty of typical sterotypes, is good enough to sit through the entire movie for. Worth giving a chance imo. Expand
  4. This may be Jason Statham's worst flick yet. The convoluted plot involves corrupt NYC cops pitted Chinese and Russian gangs. They're all out to find a Chinese girl with a gift for numbers and Statham is the indomitable tough guy who decides to protect her. The action gets off to a slow start (too much chatter) and most of the encounters involve gunplay (not hand-to-hand, which is Statham's forte). Like so many weak films these days, the fights are staged with jerky camera moves and blurry editing, so it's impossible to appreciate what's really happening. Nothing about Statham, the stunts or the story is special. Expand

See all 26 User Reviews

Trailers