Safe 2012

Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle: 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 more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: [Statham] continues to punch, kick, shoot and crash cars in a satisfying, gritty fashion. Read more

Andy Webster, New York Times: If only someone would offer this actor a project worthy of the full range of his talent. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: Let the bullets fly. Let the bodies fall. Let a man who was grieving and suicidal rise up and wreak rough justice. And boy is it rough. And ever so satisfying. Read more

Sam Adams, AV Club: It's hard to swallow Statham, who spent the Crank movies supercharging his last minutes of life, as a suicidal sad-sack, just as it's painful to see him yoked to a cute little girl in an obvious attempt to soften his image. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Yakin, who wrote and directed the film, keeps things moving with ever-inventive ways to kill and maim. Read more

David Germain, Associated Press: "Safe" is the worst Jason Statham movie since the last Jason Statham movie, carrying on the bargain-budget action star's tradition of building a body of work out of, well, dead bodies. Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: It's like another "Transporter'' installment trying to be something slightly more - and not quite delivering the goods. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: It may satisfy Statham's fans, but they - like he - would do well to enlarge their expectations. Read more

William Goss, Film.com: Barrels through cliche after cliche and hurdles from borough to borough with a welcome abandon for logic, morality, and mortality alike. Read more

Stephen Dalton, Hollywood Reporter: Despite some impressively gritty street-level action, Safe plays it far too safe. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: Yakin gives his star plenty of room to look mean, think fast, drive faster, punch, quip, mow down and charismatically bond with the most imperiled child character in screen memory. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: This whip-smart, brutally funny and gleefully nasty film is one of the year's best surprises. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Yeah, "Safe" is a long way from perfect. But rented, in a few months, it'll go great with a six-pack and a hold-the-anchovies special. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Held on the shelf for a while until the marquee was (briefly) clear of action dramas, "Safe" arrives filled with bombast and sneers but barely any thrills. Read more

Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post: There are zero surprises, but it looks good, moves well through a trim running time and wields its cliches with defiant aplomb. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: It's hard to imagine a die-hard action fan being disappointed. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: The trouble with Safe is that you know where it's going every step of the way. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: From its implacable hero and thoroughgoing cynicism to its electrified pace and fairytale conclusion, "Safe" is both a slavish imitation of cinema gone by and a movie for our time. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Ian Buckwalter, The Atlantic: The thoroughly mediocre Safe provides little more than an excuse for Statham to do what Statham does better than anyone else: look stern while punishing bad guys. That's just not enough. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: The plot first strains and then assassinates credulity, while Yakin's handling of the action/mayhem runs the gamut from the merely dull to what-the-hell's-going-on. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Safe winds up being a B-movie with A-movie credentials, and all the more entertaining for it. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: The occasional efficient action sequence means that 'Safe' never gets truly dull, but even Statham aficionados might feel short- changed by this one. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Yakin makes us wait for the fisticuffs, an inspired choice that allows the rough-hewn Statham to show off his primo brooding abilities. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It's not just laziness - although it's a fair cop - that prompts the observation that Safe is both the worst movie title and attitude for Jason Statham at this stage of his career. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: 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 more

Brian Lowry, Variety: What starts out crisp and promising gives way to a conventional shoot-'em-up. Read more

Aaron Hillis, Village Voice: Yakin's sleek, visually witty direction elevates his undeniably dopey script. Read more