"Man on Fire"

Rating: 7/10 (10 November 2004)

Director Tony Scott, who some have dubbed the "lesser" Scott brother (and the one to call when Ridley is unavailable), has had a wildly uneven career over the last 15 years or so. He has his own trademark visual aesthetics down pat, and has directed some relentless action bloodbaths in his career ("The Last Boy Scout," "Revenge," "True Romance").
But since the mid-90s, Scott has tried to relieve himself of those stylized action flicks in favor of more "respectable" Hollywood productions, and "Man on Fire" is the latest effort. While "Man on Fire" boasts some terrific visuals and action, somewhere in the middle, things are lost, but the film isn't a failure because of that.
Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed Tony Scott's take of "Man on Fire." It has a worthwhile star, Denzel Washington, plot and performances from much of the supporting cast. The problem is, Scott's rendition of "Man on Fire" is simply too much. It suffers the most from a buildup that seems more perfunctory than dramatic, and bad pacing due to Scott's over-indulgence into the characters.
Washington plays Creasy, a bodyguard with a shady past, who is hired by a Mexican businessman named Samuel (Marc Anthony) and his wife Lisa (Radha Mitchell) to protect their young daughter Pita (Dakota Fanning). When Pita is kidnapped, Creasy embarks on a mercilessly bloody quest of vengeance to find those responsible, and eventually traces those links back to the family household that hired him.
The film focuses pretty much, for almost the entire first hour, on the developing relationship between Creasy and Pita. And therein lies the problem: the previews had led us to believe that Washington was going to kick some serious a** but unfortunately none of that occurs until the last 45 minutes or so. So until then, you'd have to sit through a lot of dialogue and people standing around talking.
None of that is bad really, except if you're more of a fan of bloody thrillers (which Scott had become famous for during the 90s), but "Man on Fire" is made more for those who like action movies with a purpose, other than blowing stuff up.
Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning are both flawless, in roles that really are moving and profound, as are most of the supporting players including Marc Anthony, Radha Mitchell, Christopher Walken, and Mickey Rourke. Scott himself is showing signs that he's maturing into a true filmmaker and is not living in older brother Ridley's directorial shadow.
"Man on Fire" does of course contain many of Scott's trademarks, including twisting, beautiful cinematography and visuals, tough, convincing characters, and stylized bloody violence. Scott even makes good use of the lush Mexican setting and uses them substantially in staging the action sequences.
All in all, "Man on Fire" gets a "7," and I certainly enjoyed it a lot for what it was.