Jason Statham’s forgotten action thriller Safe contains a prototype version of John Wick’s “Gun Fu” action. The John Wick movies have had a major impact on action cinema in the last decade. The franchise’s use of long takes and intricately choreographed action has led to many John Wick ripoffs – but none have reached the level of the Keanu Reeves saga. Before helming the original movie together, directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch were famed stuntmen and second unit directors who worked on projects like The Expendables and Jason Statham movies like The Mechanic.
Stahelski served as the second unit director for Safe, a fast-moving action thriller where Statham’s ex-cop has to protect a young girl from Triads, Russian gangsters and corrupt cops. Safe is no lost classic, but it’s a very entertaining Statham action vehicle with slick shootouts and action sequences. Leitch confessed in the 2025 documentary Wick is Pain that John Wick’s “Gun Fu” style was developed for Safe. Despite being shown a test of it in action, neither Statham nor director Boaz Yakin felt this style fit the tone of their film, so it wasn’t used.
Safe Contains An Early Example Of John Wick-style “Gun Fu” During The Restaurant Fight
Pieces of John Wick’s fighting style can still be found in Safe
Stahelski and Leitch loved the Gun Fu previs that was made for Safe, and while they were bummed it was rejected, they knew they could save it for another project. Still, the film has a fight sequence in a restaurant involving Statham’s Luke being attacked by Triads that features some of the Wickian fighting style. Leitch points out in Wick is Pain that this Safe fight features an “introduction” to the Gun Fu concept.
It’s the introduction of it, you know, in that one fight in the restaurant. There’s just like a couple of moments where, like, you see Gun Fu come to life.
Safe’s restaurant fight definitely has some stylistic similarities to John Wick, but it’s not fully evolved either. Instead of long, sleek takes, Safe’s fight has lots of shaky cam and quick cuts. It does feature some of Wick’s trademark moves, including disarms, body flips and, of course, headsH๏τs. Luke even gets creative with his surroundings and uses a dinner plate as a weapon.
In truth, had Stahelski and Leitch never mentioned that Gun Fu was originally developed for Safe, it’s doubtful anyone would have spotted these similarities. Visually and tonally, Safe and John Wick are very different from each other. Safe is like a modern version of a gritty 1970s crime thriller that dials the action way up, but it still takes place in something approximating the real world. John Wick is intentionally very stylized, so it’s acceptable that one man can kill dozens all by himself.
Safe Was The Wrong Movie To Introduce John Wick’s Fighting Style
Jason Statham was right to have “notes” on Gun Fu
The Safe previs scene in Wick is Pain looks great, and it’s clear why the stunt team was excited about it. That said, Safe was just the wrong project to introduce it. As Leitch pointed out, Statham was more than capable of pulling off the moves, but he had “notes” following the previs and felt it wasn’t right for Safe. Maybe the film would be better remembered that it had featured Gun Fu, but it would have jarred badly with the story being told.
There’s also the question of why a former cop and cage fighter had developed such a balletic style of fighting in the first place. It could be a nice full-circle moment for Statham to appear in the upcoming John Wick 5 and test out Gun Fu for himself, but there are no signs of that happening (so far). Safe itself arrived at a point where Statham was cranking out mid-budget action thrillers like Parker and Homefront, and it got somewhat lost in the mix.
David Leitch would later direct Jason Statham in the 2019 Fast & Furious spinoff, Hobbs & Shaw.
Safe grossed over $41 million theatrically on a budget of $30 million (via Box Office Mojo), so it wasn’t much of a hit. The film is ripe for rediscovery, though, as it’s better written and directed than viewers might be expecting. If nothing else, Safe deserves to be something more than a footnote in the history of the John Wick franchise.
Source: Wick is Pain, Box Office Mojo
