Loud, shaky and very serious, Safe House joins the long line of Bourne knockoffs yet benefits from a stern dramatic centre well-acted by its leading men.

It’s been near impossible to find an action movie that has not utilised the shay-cam theatrics of the Bourne movies. For those of us who like our images steady and sharp, and our action choreography visible, this has been a most heinous development. Yet Safe House is a film which employs the tactic well.

Directed by Swedish filmmaker Daniel Espionsa and written by David Guggenheim, Safe House is a film that delves into the messy moral minefield of the lengths taken to protect one’s country from their enemies. Only justified that messy filmmaking is used to tell that story.

Ryan Reynolds stars as Matt Weston, a fresh faced CIA agent craving for action while playing caretaker at a safe house in Cape Town, South Africa. When notorious rouge ex-CIA Agent with the cool name Tobin Frost (Denzel Washtington) is brought in for interrogation, Matt gets more than he bargains for when the safe house is infiltrated and he has to go on the run with Frost, as mercenaries follow in hot pursuit.

While Washington is his usual smooth talking, no BS taking, cool cat self, the real surprise here is Reynold’s who turns in one of his better dramatic performances as a man way over his head and struggling with the consequences of his profession. Brendan Gleeson, Vera Farmiga, Sam Shepherd and Robert Patrick are solid in supporting roles.

Safe House is a film that lives and dies on its tone and style. Cold, grim and unrelenting, this is an action film that takes itself very seriously to the point where it can be at times overbearing. The violence in particular is startling, with a scene where Washington is water-boarded sure to make many feel uneasy (as it should).

That being said the various shoot outs and car chases are terrifically intense, with Cape Town proving to be quite a good playground for this kind of urban action movie.

With its Tony Scott (Unstoppable) meets Paul Greengrass (Bourne Ultimatum) style of filmmaking, Safe House is sure to irritate some. But for those who like a bit of ethically charged drama amongst the gunplay, this is a safe bet at the multiplexes.