“Safe” marks off just about every box on the “Dad Action Movie” checklist. A fridged wife? Check. A precocious kid the hero must protect to redeem himself? Check. Villains who are members of either Russian or Southeast Asian organized crime families and conspire with dirty cops? Why not both? Jason Statham beating the guacamole out of any evil-doer who dares to cross his path? You know the film has got you covered there. Everything about “Safe” is middle of the road, right down to its middling but adequate reviews (it’s barely “Fresh” on Rotty T’s among critics). It only grossed $41.5 million against a $33 million budget, but thanks to home media sales and its mid-budget, it was far from a colossal failure.
So what’s drawing people to “Safe” on Netflix? Part of it, again, is most likely the familiarity of Statham’s films. Even the more serious ones like Yakin’s thriller tend to deliver precisely what they promised. Another factor might be the pairing of The Stath with a kid. As /Film’s Jacob Hall noted during his interview with director Ben Wheatley for the latter’s Statham vs. Shark sequel, “Meg 2: The Trench,” the more wholesome Statham is also the best Statham. Not that “Safe” features the actor at his most nurturing and positive the way he is in the “Meg” films, but casting him as a surrogate father figure is a useful way of bringing out that side of him.
Then again, who can truly fathom the ways of the Netflix top 10? I’m just waiting for the streamer’s subscribers to rediscover The Stath’s “Crank” films so we can have a conversation about the sheer amount of mind-bogglingly bizarre mayhem that goes down in those movies.
Source From: www.slashfilm.com
Source link