Lawrence Bender

' When a champion thoroughbred is great at running around the track, fans don''t complain that the horse always does the same thing. No one suggests that the filly should perhaps go in the opposite direction or complete a race on its hind legs. So if Jason Statham''s character in “Safe” isn''t particularly distinguishable from the intense, violent men he plays in the “Transporter” or “Crank” movies, who cares? In an era where matinee idols like Tom Cruise and Matt Damon can be turne...

' NEW YORK -- Since he first appeared as Guy Ritchie''s tough-talking muscle more than a decade ago, Jason Statham has pounded, head-butted, pummeled, hammered, shot, punched, knived, thrashed and battered countless of on-screen victims. But for all his Schwarzeneggerian ambitions, Statham has perhaps never racked up a body count as large as that of “Safe,” Boaz Yakin''s new crime-themed action movie, which sees more blood and bullets than a small Central American war. At the movie’s New Y...