April 26, 2012 | 10:13 pm

‘Safe’ Review

Posted by Joan Alperin-Schwartz

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First off, I must say that there are some actors that I just enjoy watching…Doesn’t really matter all that much what they do up on the silver screen…I just like them…And Jason Statham is one of them.

Is he a great actor?  That’s yet to be determined, but he’s definitely an entertaining one.

In his new film ‘Safe’ written and directed by Boaz Yakin (‘Remember The Titans’) Statham is at the top of his game. He plays Luke Wright, an ex super cop, ex cage fighter, who’s at the lowest point in his life.  Luke’s wife has been murdered by the Russian mob and he is one step away from jumping off a subway platform into a moving train.

Seriously, he really is…until he spots a girl who looks like she’s in trouble.

The girl is ten year old Mei (Catherine Chan) and she happens to be a genius/math prodigy. Mei was kidnapped from her school in China and whisked off to New York City where she now resides with Triad boss, Han Jiao (James Hong).  The old dude doesn’t believe in computers and since Mei has a flawless memory, she becomes his human ledger. 

Unfortunately for Mei, the Russian mob know all about her awesome skills and they want her for themselves. So they wind up kidnapping her.  Wow, kidnapped twice in one movie.  That’s a record.

Okay, so the Russians have Mei…They want her to tell them about some number.  The little genius refuses to spill what she knows and when these goof balls aren’t looking, Mei escapes into the wild streets of Manhattan.

Oh, did I forget to mention…there’s also a bunch of crooked cops after her as well. 

It really sucks being popular.

Anyway, back to Mei, Luke and the subway platform…The Chinese and Russians are closing in on our girl fast…Luke, being the bad ass killing machine that he is…fights them all off, grabs Mei and…what follows are…

Incredible chase scenes, non stop violence, killer fight scenes, crashing cars, more killer fight scenes, as Luke struggles to keep Mei…safe.
Now don’t think that ‘Safe’ is all blood and guts…Well, basically it is, but…

There’s also some funny and sweet moments between Luke and Mei and that’s what added to the fun.

And yes, this film is fun and that’s why I gave it 3 1/2 bagels out of 5. 

Check out our video to see John’s rating…Hint…We seem to have a different idea about fun…at least when it comes to movies.

‘Safe’ opens in theatres Friday, April 27, 2012.