Safe House is the new film from director Daniel Espinosa. As his first foray into the world of film making in the English language he could ask for few better starts than to direct Denzel Washington (The Bone Collector; Training Day) and Ryan Reynolds (Buried; Green Lantern) in an exotic all out action movie. Washington plays experienced rogue CIA agent Tobin Frost, arriving in Cape Town he strikes a deal for some very valuable information, bringing the deal to the attention of those who have a lot to lose from the sharing of such information. Reynolds on the other hand plays the antithesis to Frost. As Matt Weston he is the junior ‘House Keeper’ managing the CIA’s safe house in Cape Town. Trapped in the house, he craves better jobs in which he doesn’t have to stare at four walls, but with little field experience and no way of gaining any, he finds himself frustrated. That is until Frost enters his world. Brought in by a CIA team the safe house is breached and the villains of the piece attempt to hunt Frost down. Going on the run Weston must keep Frost in his hands while his mind is toyed with, forcing him to question where his loyalties lie and just who he can trust.
It is this central relationship which ultimately will determine the fate of the film and, clearly, it works. Washington is on fine form, and even though Reynolds is the man we mainly follow, the presence of Tobin Frost is consistently palpable. Playing equal parts cold calculating killer and violent sociopath, Denzel is also able to make us care about his character, potentially somewhat concerning considering what we see him do! While Washington is obviously the main source of the film’s star wattage, to give no mention to Reynolds would be a disservice. Stepping out of his rom-com comfort zone in recent times Reynolds kicks, punches, grimaces and scowls appropriately while also making his a character that we can get behind. This brings us onto one of the film’s best features: its fight scenes. In many action films the fight scenes are athletic and almost dance like. However the fights in Safe House are more in line with those seen in Matt Damon’s Bourne trilogy, meaning they are visceral and brutal. Every punch has real weight and the standard shaky-cam action puts us right at the centre of things. In addition to this, the use of location is fantastic. Filmed in Cape Town, the colours are bright and vivid, providing the perfect playground for the action to unfold in. In particular, a night-time chase through a township is particularly brilliant.
However, Safe House is not a perfect film by any means. If you come expecting a plot on the level of Inception, you are likely to be disappointed. The story is completely serviceable while at the same time being predictable, twisting and turning appropriately if unremarkably. Added to this, Brendan Gleeson (The Guard; Green Zone) and Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air; Source Code) are tragically underused as the background CIA staff and feel like little more than plot devices. In a similar vein, the inclusion of a love interest for Reynolds, while clearly intended to add emotional depth to the character, feels tacked on. It succeeds to an extent but ultimately feels more like a proverbial tick in a box.
Overall, Safe House may not be the most intellectual film of the year and the lack of participation given to Farmiga and Gleeson borders on criminal but as a basic, enjoyable, action film for a Friday night, Safe House is brilliant. Washington and Reynolds are both fantastic and provide an adrenalin ride that relentlessly serves up car chases and fight scenes against a gorgeous backdrop worth anyone’s ticket fare.
4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment