100 movies: Safe House

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100 movies of 2012

Every year I set myself a target, usually of about 100, of films to watch. These are new films. Not new, new films. But films that are new to me. Any time I’ve seen a new one, I post a bit of a brain dump of my thoughts on the film here. Enjoy!

Safe HouseSafe House (24/02/12)

A young CIA agent is tasked with looking after a fugitive in a safe house. But when the safe house is attacked, he finds himself on the run with his charge.

So, we’ve got Denzel in another action packed film. Playing a little bit more a bad boy. Ryan Reynolds is the fresh blood. You know what? It all works well. Yes the plot is pretty damn predictable. There’s nothing new. I pretty much guessed from the get-go who was double-crossing who. Though, it’s a story that’s told well with some decent characters thrown in.

I have to say, I was pretty impressed with Ryan Reynolds. To me, he’ll always me Berg from Two Guys and a Girl. Think he held up his parts of the film well, playing a very fresh agent pushed to the limit.

Denzel Washington is… well Denzel Washington. He is great as Tobin Frost. Fair enough, he has played the same or very similar characters in the last few films of his. But he has such great onscreen presence and charisma, I can’t help but have respect for the man and what he does.

I am getting a little tired of action films having that over-saturated look that Tony Scott just loves. It’s like it’s needed to just show how sweaty and tough things are. It’s not necessary. Let Tony Scott keep his over saturated action films. (Which I will happily admit, are a guilty pleasure of mine.)

There are some great action set pieces. The initial car chase is superb. As is the chase through the township. You know what’s great about them? The fact that they’re on location. There’s none of this CG on-a-set crap. The fights were excellent too. Throwing punches that sound like they hurt.

All in all. A good film. Could have been great with a stronger plot and truly unbelievable twists. I’m not complaining. Too much.
Strong>Rating: 4/5

Read on to see all the films watched this year…

11 Films so far this year

  1. The Tourist 1/5 (02/01/12)
  2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 5/5 (03/01/12)
  3. World’s Greatest Dad 2/5 (14/01/12)
  4. Haywire 3/5 (19/01/12)
  5. Dead Snow 3/5 (20/01/12)
  6. The Artist 5/5 (21/01/12)
  7. Priest 2/5 (05/02/12)
  8. The Muppets 5/5 (15/02/12)
  9. Faster 4/5 (19/02/12)
  10. Chronicle 4/5 (22/02/12)
  11. Safe House 4/5 (24/02/12)

4 Comments

  1. Glad you liked it. You’re right, Denzel does his thing…as did Reynolds. I wish it had been better than it was for me personally, but it was ok.

    Interesting, isn’t it? the point you bring up about the style. It wasn’t Tony Scott, yet it still kinda felt like it.

    • It definitely could have been better. It had all the right ingredients to be a great thriller, but the plot was just a little too predictable. Don’t think I was surprised by any “twist”. Though, it’s funny that even though that’s the case, I still enjoyed it.

      I think Tony Scott’s got a style for his action flicks. It’s so ingrained in action flicks these days that it seems people think that’s what action flicks need to look like.

    • I enjoyed it a lot too. It was entertaining. It could have gone deeper and been a bit more polished, but for the most part, it was a good solid film.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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