'Safe House'

'Safe House' (R) (2 STARS)

Written by David Guggenheim
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Actors: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Vera Farmiga, Brendan Gleeson, Sam Shepard

"Safe House" has some cool, well directed car chases and shootouts and it has Denzel Washington. What it doesn't have is a soul or any interesting characters or a story I could get into. It also has a plot twist I saw coming in the first five minutes. There are no surprises here and this is a Washington character that he makes appealing with his charisma but a character I expected more fireworks from. The trailer for this movie makes the cooly named Tobin Frost, played by Washington, seem to be a badass but I kept thinking "Training Day". Tobin Frost is supposed to come off as a cold, mean killing machine and he is but ironically I felt no real danger coming off the character.

Tobin Frost is a rogue CIA agent who has a tape that contains incriminating evidence against the agency. Tobin frost is captured and brought to a safe house which is an apartment that is really made up to be like a fortress. The agents bring him into the safe house manned by Matt Weston who is played by Ryan Reynolds. Matt is craving dangerous assignments and hasn't been given any good opportunities. Frost is brought to his safe house to be tortured and something will happen to drag Weston into the case.

The movie seems like one long chase scene and it has a plot I found dull so the car chases and shootouts became repetitive to me and I lost interest half way through. I expected more of an intense battle between Frost and our hero Matt Weston and I felt I didn't get it. Ryan Reynolds is a very good actor and I like him especially in dramatic roles. I just have seen this character before and it comes off one note thanks to the screenplay which is too political for an action movie like this.

The movie makes political speeches and I have seen this story done to death. Denzel Washington deserves a character with more bite but as usual he makes the mundane more intersting so if you like him I say maybe give this movie a chance. It's funny that before this movie I saw the trailer for the new "Bourne Identity" reboot and I think "Safe House" is a dull copy of those movies. The fights and car chases are good in "Safe House" but they are pale copies of the fights and chases of the Bourne movies.

P.S. For better movies than "Safe House" try all the Bourne movies, "Green Zone", "Training Day" and "The Pelican Brief".