A watchable early 2000's action drama

Rating: 7/10 (4 July 2018)

Man on Fire starts with a 5 minute in your face edit of a man being kidnapped and the steps taken to get him released. I feel it was supposed to be set up for the inevitable scene where are main characters would have to do the same. But this scene actually alleviates the tension from the film because it practically shows the basic structure for the entire movies finale. This sequence as well gives you a taste of the very quick cutting edits that City of God popularized around the time this film was made, but the execution of these edits in Man on Fire just tend to be annoying and makes it difficult at times to fully grasp what's happening as flashback sequences and the scenes taking place in the present are shot, colored, and edited in the exact same way as these flashbacks.
The characters in Man on Fire is what makes this movie watchable, and I would even go as far to say that the first hour of this film was very well done. As you watch this young girl and her body guard interact as a business relationship that eventually grows into a friendship (as cliche and predictable as it might be) is actually quite entertaining to watch. It's only once the inevitable kidnapping and revenge story began that this film began to go downhill.
So in conclusion, Man on Fire is a watchable film that has a strong first act but a weak second. And although its in your face editing style becomes obnoxious at times, and the story is rather predicatable and cliche, the characters make it worth a viewing.