Unsafe Abode, ‘Safe House’ – review

Posted by Kerry M Baker | Published on February 13, 2012

Review of: Safe House

Cinema review:: Kerry M Baker

Reviewed by: Kerry M Baker

Rating:: 3

On February 13, 2012

Last modified:April 4, 2012

Summary:

If you need quality and faultlessness above all else - forget SAFE HOUSE. If you can forgive some flaws in exchange for uber kinetic high action, it is a three star guilty pleasure.

More Details

SAFE HOUSE offers many positives.

Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds at full tilt and a support cast including Vera Farmiga, Brendan Gleeson, Sam Shepherd and Robert Patrick. It falls somewhat by comparison with others of the genre. When we are looking at espionage thrillers with sinister elements hidden high up in the power structure of the CIA, Angie Jolie’s SALT probably carried more subtlety and the BOURNE series handled the action sequences more professionally.

Ryan is Matt Weston, who works for the CIA as the ‘ landlord’ of a safe house in Capetown. He has been there for a year and no one has been sent, nothing has gone down and he chafes for some operational work and action ( Beware what you wish for Matt !!)
Denzel is Tobin Frost, once the CIA’s best agent, who has gone rogue and for the previous nine years has been trading secrets around the intelligence communities including America’s enemies. Why ? He is no classic traitor. He must have strong reasons. Following his acquiring of the absolute mother of all secret files ( the names of corrupt officers in the CIA, MI6 and many other nation’s security forces) he is hunted down by a gang of highly trained assassins and takes refuge in the American Consulate in Capetown. Naturally consternation and disbelief abound there. Why would their most wanted man just walk in off the street into their custody ?
Escorted by a team of minders, he is moved from the Consulate to – you guessed it – Ryan’s ‘safe house’. But the word ‘safe’ is a misnomer. The assassins hit the house intent on getting that file from Denzel and killing everyone else present.

The fact they were obviously tipped off tells us that someone in authority will do anything to get that file – because they are on it.

I feel fairly safe ( there’s that word again) in predicting that most respected critics in the U.S. the U.K. and Australia will slam this outing on many levels. But it is what it was meant to be – a pure escapist, violent, high action movie. The storyline and plot are not great, and as mentioned, superior directors have better handled the genre ( the recent MISSION IMPOSSIBLE for example). But I liked the chemistry between Denzel and Ryan. The green, illusioned Ryan and the hard edged, experienced Denzel.

The fight scenes are bruisingly bloody and the frenetic chase and car stunt moments are relentless and high intensity. The excellent support cast deliver the goods as always. Cinematographer Oliver Wood ( who shot the Bourne films) gets some superb colour and texture from his South African locations and a chase sequence through a packed soccer stadium is well handled.

written by Kerry M Baker

Conclusion:

If you need quality and faultlessness above all else - forget SAFE HOUSE. If you can forgive some flaws in exchange for uber kinetic high action, it is a three star guilty pleasure.