A Revenge Flick that Works, Mostly.

Rating: 8/10 (12 January 2005)

Revenge flicks are as predictable as "Rocky" knock-offs. Take a highly trained, ex-super soldier/spy, disgrace them from continuing their previous profession, show them struggling to adjust to the civilize world. Next, have them fall in love, begin to heal, and for real fun, have the object of their affections snatched away from them. Suddenly, all the killing to come is justifiable homicide. Each death is cheered.
That's the structure of this Denzel Washington flick, but guess what? It works, mostly. Sure, there's the unbelievable back story of Denzel being an ex-super soldier/spy. It's established early that he's a man of unusual prowlness when it comes to killing. Just as it's established early that he's no longer able to continue his previous profession. In this case, alcoholism. None of this is a spoiler, since it's all given away in the first 15 minutes of the film.
What makes this movie exceptional (not great, just noteworthy) is the way mostly believable way the filmmaker justifies his relationship with the little girl. Even Denzel's motivation for letting go of the bottle is relatively believable.
Once the killing starts, we're rewarded with mostly believable acts of revenge killing on Washington's part. Only one killing is patently over the top in it's cuteness (the one under the bridge).
I guess the filmmaker hoped to have you drawn deeply enough into the characters and the story to forgive the clichéd ending. The killing under the bridge signals the end of believability for the movie as it races to tie up all the loose ends and give the required happy/sad ending.
I liked how the movie was directed and shot. It's use of subtitles is wonderful. Subtitles that actually ADD to the composition of the shot and reflect the emotion of the moment. A bit cartoony at times, but mostly, very effective and fun. The creative use of subtitles, along with the feel and visualness of the movie, will last much longer than the paper thin plot.