Hot turns to cold

Rating: 4/10 (4 February 2006)

I can't imagine what director Tony Scott was thinking when he shot this film. He took a wonderful cast and put them on the "crush" setting of a blender and came up with a concoction of so many flavors, you don't know what it is. Man on Fire went down in flames for me. First of all, is Mexico City the completely lawless, politically corrupt city it is portrayed as in this story? My goodness, remind me never to go there. Then there is the revenge-religion-redemption-martyr plot which ricochets around the viewer's head ad nauseum so that you don't know what to think or feel from one scene to another. Add to this other plot lines of a Mexican mob that kidnaps children for money, rampant greed, and parental dysfunction. Then top it all off with gyrating camera-work, sporadic & strange subtitles, plot holes, and supporting characters who seem not really part of the story but exist only to accomplish certain tasks needed by the main character.
I haven't read the book, but I think Denzel's character was supposed to be a really bad guy whom I shouldn't have liked, or at least been wary of. Well, I did like him which turned everything that happened inside-out and it made the ending illogical and sad. Are you supposed to feel sad at the end of a so-called "action" movie? Are you supposed to feel glad or puzzled by a suicide? Are you supposed to feel a grinding in your ears when a movie shifts gears? When a movie devolves from engaging to annoying to consternation to distaste, it's just not working.
Denzel is in usual excellent form as is the rest of the cast all the way down to the most minor roles. But the direction, the musical score, and the overall tonality of the movie is a mess. It's a good example of how actors sign on for what appears to be a quality project and then are completely at the mercy of a director who is having a profound creative breakdown. Four stars for the incredible cast and a great beginning of a story that takes too long to ultimately grow cold.