Imagine what you would get if you attempted to shoot a film using a cameraman balanced on one leg, standing on a spin dryer, balancing on a wobble board, with electrodes up his ass, intermittently sending electric shocks where the sun don’t shine… The result would be the camera work employed by the makers of Safe.
I usually like Jason Statham in action films, but it’s hard to comment on his performance here because of the absolutely atrocious camera work. I’ve come to expect violent shaking of the camera during action scenes, because it seems the vast majority of Hollywood directors think attempting to give you epilepsy is the only way to make a film look exciting. It isn’t just the action scenes here though. It’s all over the bloody place. One minute you are staring at people’s feet as they walk down the stairs. There next minute there is just a blur on screen with the odd punch or kick (probably). Was anyone really proud of the camera work on this film? Did they go home thinking, “We did a good job today!”?
The story was OK. If this had been done by someone with a better eye I think I would have enjoyed it. It’s hard to judge what the fight scenes were like because I really couldn’t see much through the blur.
My recommendation would be to sit in front of any action film staring Jason Statham, make yourself go cross-eyed and shake your head as quick as possible, then tell all your friends you’ve seen Safe.
Cheers
Tim…
PS. Remember, if you go cross-eyed and the wind changes you’ll stay like that.
PPS. It’s probably not a good idea to actually go cross-eyed and shake your head violently while watching a film. You may feel sick, or get brain damage, or both…