Safe House Review

Matt Weston (Reynolds) in the safe house as it's being attacked.

There has been a lot of movies out there about rogue governments and agents, and Safe House is yet another one of them. Although, if you are a fan of Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington you should consider checking out Safe House. There is also a lot of combat scenes in Safe House, so those who are faint hearted (meaning you display action scenes or you cover your eyes the whole time), I suggest you go see another movie like Ghost Rider 2 (which I think will be terrible), Journey 2 (family movie that appeals to the young hearted), or relive Star Wars 1 (Just so you can relive the nerdism). But lets stop the wasting time and get to it.

Safe House wastes no time to giving you action in the beginning as Tobin Frost (Washington) is talking and making a deal as a hit squad comes down on him. You hes not going to get captured, but what makes it enjoyable is watching him do it. In the send he chooses to go into the American Embassy and lets himself get captured by the CIA. Now enter Matt Weston (and his short introduction scene) who is at his safe house doing nothing when he gets a call that a "house guest" is coming. Frost is brought to the safe house and is interrogated. Although I'm going to guess that the torture scene was with a stunt double, I would be very impressed if Denzel Washington did that scene himself. 

As you saw from the trailer that the safe house gets attacks and Weston is forced to flee with Frost. I have to say, for someone who spends all his day in a house, Weston is quite skilled in combat and driving. Probably because the CIA trained him. It gets even tougher for Weston as he has to fight two enemies; Frost and the people who want to kill him. Essentially its a battle of wits as Frost begins to play with Weston's inexperience. 

In a way this bonds the two as Weston's eyes are being open to the true world that is hidden within lies upon lies. Weston begins to trust Frost and vise versa for Frost for survival. I have to point out that Reynolds and Washington play this beautifully. They know they characters and play it to the fullest. Washington plays the bad ass rouge agent nicely and gives you that creepy vibe when hes messing with people's minds. But unfortunately the story doesn't do much of that. Reynolds shows his character's inexperience and determination as he handles his situation. Many reviews on Rotten Tomatoes agree with this.

Speaking of Rotten Tomatoes, great site to check out movies and see if its worth seeing. The overall review summaries that the acting is great, but the editing is choppy and the script not too great. Without reading it, the average viewer can tell when a script isn't great, but when its pointed out that the editing not great, you tend to look for it. I found myself constantly looking for it. There are some scenes I felt there was some extra scenes they could have not used, and possibly filmed a different angle. Not mention the camera was shaky in the beginning scenes,  unless they did that on purpose to create an atmosphere. I can see the scenes where it stood out the most. It was scene where they were going somewhere, but they would first show they got there, then between as they getting to that point. It was a bit confusing and the viewer had to piece it together. Honestly that's the editor's job, not the viewer's.

Overall the movie is good, but isn't great as movies like Mission Impossible 4. Speaking of that, theres a scene the movie similar to that as Matt watches his girlfriend from a distance like Hunt did in Mission Impossible with his wife. Out of all the movies that have come out, if you want a good action movie, check out Safe House.

Check out Rotten Tomatoes for a variety of reviews.