Safe
Lionsgate | Release Date: April 27, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
13
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
SalonAndrew O'HehirApr 26, 2012
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. Read full review
80
EmpireKim NewmanApr 30, 2012
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. Read full review
75
Washington PostMark JenkinsMay 3, 2012
There's a back story to this, and it's actually sort of witty. Read full review
75
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeApr 27, 2012
There are zero surprises, but it looks good, moves well through a trim running time and wields its clichés with defiant aplomb. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigApr 26, 2012
Boaz Yakin's slick direction, marked by quick cuts, unstinting energy and a lack of sentimentality, makes the action scenes satisfying. But he's a better director than writer. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliApr 26, 2012
The violence has the straightforward, unflinching characteristic evident in "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction," although Yakin's dialogue falls considerably short of Tarantino's, both in terms of substance and offbeat humor. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleApr 26, 2012
There's nothing terribly original about Safe, but it's a suitably grimy playground for action cinema's reigning pit bull. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzApr 25, 2012
Statham probably isn't going to be doing Shakespeare anytime soon. But everybody ought to be good at something, and when it comes to this kind of thing, Statham is very good, indeed. Read full review
70
Village VoiceAaron HillisApr 24, 2012
A preposterously enjoyable - or enjoyably preposterous - action-thriller. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineNick SchagerApr 22, 2012
Safe's primary contribution to the burgeoning Jason-Statham-kicks-everyone's-ass subgenre is setting three of its set pieces in crowded New York City venues (a subway car, a hotel dining room, and a Chinatown nightclub) where shootouts lead to believable mass-exodus pandemonium. Read full review
60
Total FilmJames MottramMay 7, 2012
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. Read full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichApr 24, 2012
You can't help feeling that an initially adventurous movie has had its rough edges sanded away. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubSam AdamsApr 26, 2012
The character-building is proffered in bad faith, like every scene in Safe that doesn't involve bloodshed. Statham can sell a punch, but not his own vulnerability. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanApr 25, 2012
Safe has more action than intrigue (or logic), and it's boilerplate vicious. It may satisfy Statham's fans, but they - like he - would do well to enlarge their expectations. Read full review
55
MovielineStephanie ZacharekApr 26, 2012
It has neither the Red Bull–fueled crudeness of "Crank" nor the Frenchified lunatic vitality of the "Transporter" movies; it's not even as cheaply entertaining as the generic hit-man retread "The Mechanic." Safe shows Statham comfortably treading water, proving all the things he no longer needs to prove. Read full review
50
Boxoffice MagazineKate ErblandApr 27, 2012
Safe bangs along respectably enough, all thrown fists and cheeky comments, but it never feels like more than a second-tier video game brought to life. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenApr 26, 2012
Love the kid though, and Statham too – it takes a star with quality to be so rock solid in a crumbling yarn. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliApr 26, 2012
None of this bears much or any resemblance to the real world, but the violence crunches, the editing snaps and the humorous one-liners pop at well-timed junctures. Read full review
50
The New York TimesAndy WebsterApr 26, 2012
Now, if only someone would offer this actor a project worthy of the full range of his talent. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 26, 2012
Statham is still playing it safe in Safe, but vulnerability is showing through the cracks. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonApr 25, 2012
Though Safe initially seems a little darker and more thoughtful than the British star's previous comic-book escapades in "Death Race," "The Expendables" or the "Transporter" trilogy, it ultimately reverts to testosterone-heavy formula. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian LowryApr 23, 2012
What starts out crisp and promising gives way to a conventional shoot-'em-up in Safe, a fast-paced but extremely familiar vehicle for Jason Statham, who can only carry the material so far on his brawny shoulders. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovApr 25, 2012
Enough already with the pointless gun battles that litter Safe like spent syringes in a shooting gallery. No matter how spastically you edit them, you'll never top John Woo's early work, or, for that matter, Sam Peckinpah's. Aim higher, even if it means fewer hits. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTom RussoApr 30, 2012
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. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierApr 26, 2012
Safe arrives filled with bombast and sneers but barely any thrills. Read full review
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