Although occasionally exciting, there’s a pointed lack of gamesmanship in the events for a yarn involving spies, coupled with a lackluster quality that fails to leave an impression.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 23, 2023

I had a great time with “Safe House”, and I don’t penalize it for aiming at a specific mark and hitting it.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 25, 2022

Why do scripters even try to hide the identity of the villain until the end? Given the obviousness in these films, they might as well include a character named Professor Plum, usually found brandishing a lead pipe in the conservatory, and be done with it.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 13, 2021

As for the action and choreographed violence, perhaps the number two reason for purchasing a ticket this weekend, again Safe House delivers adequately.

| Apr 23, 2021

The South African location, Denzel Washington's duplicitous dialogue, and the intense car chases help to coax viewers into forgetting about the humdrum plot.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 2, 2020

Nothing you haven't seen before, "Safe House" is lightning-fast, and full of shootouts, brutal fistfights, and chase scenes.

| Original Score: B- | Jul 11, 2020

The end product resembles a Catherine wheel: a loud, bright firework that goes nowhere, spinning in circles until long after everyone stopped caring.

| Feb 14, 2020

Probably so, it was fun and does what it does pretty well. Don't go in looking for a transcendent experience of film cause that's not what it is supposed to do.

| Original Score: C+ | Jan 11, 2020

Reynolds is the star of the film, but because he's the junior actor, playing the rookie character, he's given even less to work with. Racing from pillar to post, he just keeps his head down...

| Jul 29, 2019

Plays it safe at every turn, and the result is a film that just can't compete with its own clear influences.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 8, 2019

While blood spills messily, the conspiracy is unwrapped neatly and nothing is left to chance.

| Jan 26, 2019

This is a film filled with lines like, "Everyone betrays everyone." But the banality of those words almost disappears when Denzel Washington utters them.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 4, 2019

Spends most of its 117-minute running time much like its central characters -- tearing madly around, making a lot of noise and not really getting very far.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 13, 2018

[It's] undeniably engaging and extremely well acted.

| Nov 10, 2018

Reynolds is great, too, but the film truly belongs to Washington as the gruff, clever bad guy you'll end up rooting for.

| Nov 21, 2017

[Daniel] Espinosa thrillingly weaves impossible situation into impossible situation, maneuvering his players like a chess game on steroids to an ending that should be satisfying to all. He's a master and we're sure to hear more from him.

| Sep 18, 2017

Though it's not a premise we haven't seen played out before on the silver screen, Safe House is a movie that sucks you in, guts you, and spits you out at the end.

| Original Score: B- | Sep 8, 2017

Safe House wasn't bad, it just wasn't new, and if a movie is involving rogue agents, it needs to meet its characterization with a plot that keeps us guessing.

| Original Score: C+ | Aug 21, 2017

[Safe House] is utterly predictable stuff, in case you haven't already figured that out by now.

| Aug 14, 2017

Everybody fights and everybody lies in a thriller that tries to glamorize spies while demonizing their profession.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 30, 2012