Safe House
2012 Directed by Daniel Espinosa
Synopsis
No one is safe
Denzel Washington plays the most dangerous renegade from the CIA, who comes back onto the grid after a decade on the run. When the South African safe house he's remanded to is attacked by mercenaries, a rookie operative (Ryan Reynolds) escapes with him. Now, the unlikely allies must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead.
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I might have [zoom in] been able to [pan out, veer towards left] forgive Denzel's [shake camera] lacklustre performance [extreme close up] and see past [zoom out] the humongous plot holes [zoom in, zoom out, sharp right] if the camera work [nudge cameraman] hadn't been so [pan left, pan right, zoom out] friggin' annoying!!! [fade to black]
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Safe House is a film that uses incessant and very loud noises to compensate for forgettable characters, a lack of chemistry between Washington and Reynolds and some run of the mill action. It is easy to see why so many reviews make comparisons with the films of Tony Scott. Ignoring the Denzel connection this is both the sort of material (CIA conspiracy action film, exotic location and mentor-mentee relationship) and style Scott became famous for. The problem is that these sort of stories are so commonplace that it is hard for this film to stand apart.
Denzel Washington is in his comfort zone here (anybody still remember a time when he used to actually be one of the best actors…
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Currently watching some films I've either bought, rented, or had on my computer for a while and never watched them. The thirteenth one: Safe House
This had so much potential to be a very well made action thriller. It had a unique plot with a highly interesting character. The reason it failed? Poor execution, generic, and predictable. That's what made this entirely un-interesting.
In Cape Town, South Africa, Weston, played by Ryan Reynolds is the head of a safe house for the CIA. Been there for 12 months and no "action". One day, one of the world's most hunted men, Tobin Frost, wanted for Espionage walks into a U.S. Consulate after being tailed and shot at by armed men. Frost…
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Time's a-wasting. Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock...
-Tobin FrostWhat a waste of a film. It's not horrible by any means and has a great look, but that's it. The story just drags and the action is just average. Considering it stars Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds with Brendan Gleeson in a supporting role you'd think this would have turned out better. Ok, maybe Reynolds doesn't have such a great track record, but still.
The story has extremely predictable elements in it and the end of the film just seems to drag. It's like the credits role 15 minutes after the movie should have ended. I'm not sure why this cast got involved in this project because the story was obviously in the script.
In the end it's not horrible, but nothing special by any means.
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Men run around crying and killing each other. Put down the guns lads and come over here for a hug.
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Half of this is a review. The other half is a discussion that I invite participation in from everyone.
There was a moment in the theater while watching this film, where a feeling just hit me like a freight train. I had seen this film before. Multiple times in fact. Sure, the location was different, there was a different set of actors, and the plot had its own gimmick. But I had damn well seen this film a dozen time in the last 10 years.
From that point on I called every plot point, and every character motivation. While my fellow audience members saw a film, I was watching a group of lazy filmmakers throw typical espionage conventions at the…
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definitely action packed
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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. - IMDB
I like a good action flick. This one fits that bill. I don't know why but this one seems to be a forgotten movie. I enjoyed watching this. It wasn't the greatest but I love something I haven't seen before and this had some originality behind it. Nothing too complex, just action packed.
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¨Remember rule number one: you are responsible for your house guest. I'm your house guest.¨
I can`t remember ever watching a Denzel Washington film and being disappointed; he always seems to bring his game or at least choose interesting projects because I always end up enjoying his movies. He is one of the best actors of our time and he is really entertaining. Safe House may not be original or have the best script in the world, but it does have plenty of thrills and good performances to keep you at the edge of your seat throughout the movie. It has several similarities with the Bourne franchise, although not nearly as well crafted. This is a movie that won`t stick…
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Jepp, I saw this movie a while ago and I thought it was a great movie. That verdict still stands. One of the rare movies where Denzel is really great. It does not work against him that the story is really good with an intrigue that´s constantly changing. All in very good way, The footage is great although you get a little fedup with the closeups at the end of the movie. Ryan Reynolds is doing his best performance so far in my opinion. Really good movie..
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a very good cast cannot make up to the fact that the writing is weak and the directing is average, if not bad.
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Men run around crying and killing each other. Put down the guns lads and come over here for a hug.
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Essential for all fans of Denzel's body double, who gets quite the workout here.
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The name 'Safe House' doesn't really inspire safety whatsoever, because in this dangerous spy game, the truth is fragile and unpleasant. Like Tobin Frost says: 'Everyone betrays everyone'. Ryan Reynolds' interpretation is surprisingly good. He's gradually becoming a great actor.
As I see it, the quality of this film makes it stand at the same level of the 'Bourne' trilogy.
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The predictability of Safe House means we shouldn’t like it as much as we do, but solid action sequences and some excellent performances from Washington in particular make this an enjoyable, if forgettable watch.
Full review here - blog.yinnyang.co.uk/2012/02/film-review-safe-house/