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Men In Black 3

It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.

Bel Ami

The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.

The Dictator

A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.

The Woman In Black

Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.

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Safe House (Film)

by Jess Fenton | February 10, 2012 09:43 | Edited February 13, 2012 09:44

Coming up short on character development, this relies too heavily on gun fights and car crashes to keep audiences completely hooked, but it’s still a cracking ride.

Look up ‘charisma' in the dictionary and you'll see photos of the stars of action/spy movie Safe House, Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds.

 

Reynolds plays CIA safe house "housekeeper" and idealist Matt Weston. Bored out of his mind in a Cape Town posting for the past twelve months, Weston finally sees a chance to prove his worth when brilliant ex-CIA operative turned the agency's most notorious traitor, Tobin Frost (Washington), becomes his first "guest". The safe house is attacked, leaving Weston to secure Frost, to lead him to safety, and to find out who wants him dead.

 

Giving screenwriter David Guggenheim credit, the safe house angle is original; it's the rest of the film, filled with double crosses, a master manipulator, tests of trust and the old ‘exposing the system' that are not. However, given the strong leads and the smooth, elegant ballet of action sequences, filled with epic gun fights, car crashes and Mexican standoffs, Safe House has sustainable guts.

 

The audience is left too long in the dark as to Frost's motives, leaving Weston's determination to complete his mission to carry the film forward.

 

While the action sequences might not be anything new, they're executed flawlessly. Washington and Reynolds' solid performances are backed by a stellar supporting cast in Brendan Gleeson (The Guard) and Vera Farmiga (Up In The Air) as CIA officers at odds as to their rookie's skills; and Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) as the Senior Intelligence Officer first entrusted with bringing Frost in.

 

Anyone who loves good action and a spy caper will get a kick out of this one.