Universal Pictures
“Safe House” hit the big screen on February 10 with high-speed car chases, bullets flying, conspiracy theories and talented leading actors Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds drawing in crowds.
Denzel plays the role of Tobin Frost who has been at the top of the CIA’s most wanted list for years, completely untraceable, when suddenly he is taken into custody and placed in a safe house. When the safe house is attacked and all other personnel wiped out, it is up to Ryan Reynold’s character, young agent Matt Weston, to figure out what to do with his guest.
With the realization that the safe house had been a secure location prior to attack, it becomes questionable whether one of the higher-level authorities has become corrupt. We discover that Tobin Frost has or knows something that someone doesn’t want coming to the surface, and they will do anything to cover it up. Weston gets tangled into the mess as he begins to wonder if what Frost is holding is true.
The top-notch actors seem to carry this film. Denzel and Reynold’s performance were fantastic, but the plot seemed to be a little on the predictable side nearing the end. The film was intense in action due to the man-on-the-run nature of it. There were plenty of fierce hand-to-hand combat scenes and a multitude of shoot-outs. A couple chase scenes even utilized the South African setting, running across rooftops of a shantytown, and causing chaos at the soccer stadium.
The greatest downfall of this film was the frantically moving camera during the action scenes. It really took away from the action when you were spending so much of your energy trying to refocus your eyes and trying not to let it make your head spin.
As far as action films go, it is overall a good piece of entertainment, but there isn’t anything groundbreaking. Had they cleared up the issues with it’s action scenes the film would have been tremendously better and viewers would be more engaged.
