Safe House

Safe House. 2½ stars!
Safe House is directed by Daniel Espinosa, starring Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington about two CIA agents who have gone rogue and must work together to stay alive and to bring the corruption to light.
Safe House tells the story of Toben Frost, played by Denzel Washington, who is a former CIA agent gone rogue. He has been on the run for a couple years until some corrupted agents found him in South Africa, when during a chase scene, he runs to the American consult where the agents put him in a safe house that is being watched by Weston, played by Ryan Reynolds. The corrupt agents find the safe house where Frost is located and ambush. Only Weston and Frost survive and have to stick together in order to survive and find out who is the one behind trying to kill Frost. Also, Frost has a file that contains vital information on the head of CIA and other agents and corruption committed.
The film deals with the agent done rogue. Since the film is an action movie, therefore, the cuts are very quick. This comes in handy when dealing with the action sequences. It builds up the tension and gives the audience that edge-of-your-seat. Let’s admit it, this is a society that loves to watch meaningless explosions and ridiculous chases. It keeps the audience entertained. This would also include the many handheld shots of the action sequences and a majority of the film, but not to the level of Blair Witch, but it’s pretty standard compare to other action films.
The performances worked despite the many flaws. Ryan Reynolds, although I personally don’t think as an action star, does seem suited as the role of Weston. He is young, smart, educated, and has a lot to prove himself. Personally, there was lack of chemistry between him and the woman that played his girlfriend. Denzel Washington as Toben-he is a middle aged man, a man wise with age but can still kick ass even though he is nearing 60. I liked the relationship developed between him and Weston although if only the film could flesh it out more, it would have been more interesting to watch these two men play off from each other.
Safe House, to many, is just another agent gone rogue action film. The film is flawed in story because it follows the same cliché formula. It would have been more interesting if the film could flesh out more of the relationship between Toben and Weston. Here are two men who are alike, they just don’t know it yet. The film would have been better if it focused on that rather than mindless explosions (that certainly would have kept anyone up). Overall, it was just fine mindless entertainment.