Reason Writers at the Movies: Peter Suderman Reviews Safe

Reason Senior Editor Peter Suderman reviews Safe, the latest shoot-'em-up from Jason Statham, in today's Washington Times:

"Safe" offers yet another reminder that Jason Statham's brutal filmography has become a genre unto itself: the Jason Statham movie. At this point, the brawny star owns the entire lower-middle swath of the action movie marketplace.

Mr. Statham is — to borrow the credo of another gruff, one-dimensional comic book character, Wolverine — the best at what he does, but what he does isn't very nice.

No one makes a better blue-collar action flick, and these days almost no one else is trying. His movies aren't high art, and I hesitate to even call them creative entertainment. Instead they're mass-produced commodities designed to satiate viewers with yet another kicky, violent fix.

Still, they work. Yes, Mr. Statham's movies pander to their viewers. But they also respect them, serving up only the bare essentials with minimal filler: no fuss, no excess chit-chat, just quips and kicks. With its clinical, efficient brutality, its serrated cynicism and its pat cruelty, "Safe" fits the bill better than most. It's the purest Statham fix in years.

Whole thing here. 

Comments

[o3]

shorter peter - its a guy movie & guys dont care about tuscany, chocolate, or feelings...except what it feels like to kick sum ass!

(where's the beer & sammy wench?)

[Barfman]

*barf*

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Jason Statham as Jason Statham the same character he plays in every movie.
I've never seen a Statham movie in the theater but I'll usually rent one for home viewing as I do enjoy them for a movie night.

[Jerryskids]

I like Statham, he's the thinking mans Segal. As in, not every movie has to be intellectually and spiritually and morally uplifting, sometimes you just want to watch stuff get blowed up real good without thinking about it too much. If I wanted something to think about, I'd be reading a book.

[Killazontherun]

No one makes a better blue-collar action flick and these days almost no one else is trying. His movies aren t high art, and I hesitate to even call them creative entertainment Instead they re mass produced commodities designed to satiate viewers with yet another kicky violent fix

Had to get your intellectual bonafides out of the way first before you could enjoy the damn movie?

mass-produced commodities

D'uuuuuhhhhhhh! Not exactly the most creative pronouncement in a review since, I don't know, the studios started producing movies in large enough quantities to make the industry profitable.

[BakedPenguin]

He was good in the Guy Ritchie movies, anyway. I saw about 10 minutes of Transporter II, and it was brain-damage inducing.

[Killazontherun]

Was that the one with the freckly red head? She was kind of visually interesting for a non day walker ginger lacking a smooth complexion.

[BakedPenguin]

IDR; the scene I remember was him driving a car up a ramp so that it would spin in a barrel roll. The roll was perfectly timed so that a wrecking ball would knock off a bomb underneath the car.

No, that was really the scene. Seriously.

[Peter Suderman]

The car flip was probably the best scene in the movie, maybe tied with the doctor's office hallway fight.

[kinnath]

He has great comic skills that are generally wasted in the action flicks.

[Voros McCracken]

Except for the Crank movies which are simply awesome.

We need a Crank 3. Crank 2 at its finest.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Transporter I was also brain-damage inducing. The asian woman who speaks incredibly terrible english was high comedy, as was the scene where he slides around on an oil slick without a shirt then dives out the window into the ocean.

[tarran]

The thing is that I believe Jason Statham has a wider range of acting ability than the movie industry is calling upon.

I've listened to one of the guy's interviews and he seemed pretty bright and to posess a high degree of emotional intelligence.

I see in him the Sean Bean effect: play a brutal/unhinged man of action in your first big American hit, and get typecast to be only offered similar roles going forward.

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Forget it tarran, Ned's dead, baby. Ned's dead.

[Eduard van Haalen]

do you have data showing that these are "blue collar" movies?

[R C Dean]

Like me some Jason. Hate, hate, hate me some shaky-cam.

[Warren]

Statham was awesome in Snatch. But he was just one of many awesomes in that movie, including the plot.

[Zingotooo]

Dude makes no sense at all man, none.

http://www.Gotta-Be-Anon.tk

[dffadd]

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