Enjoyable

Rating: 6/10 (22 August 2013)

Assuming that kidnapping is a common thing in Central and South America, Tony Scott and his writers deliver an action movie far from being original, but rather striking thanks to, for instance, powerful scenes such as the interrogation in the car.
The first part of the movie, which sets and develops the Pita-Creasy relationship, is a bit long — particularly considering the viewer quite clearly knows what is going to happen —, but leads to an ultra dynamic second part in form of a killing spree, with an excellent Denzel Washington, driven by his characters feeling of vengeance.
On the whole, the film is enjoyable, however, on the form, two elements are questionable. First, although the cinematography is very dynamic (Scott's trademark), it is sometimes too stylized and almost epileptic with those headache inducing short cuts, zooms and flashes. And second, the soundtrack mixes too many styles and therefore clearly lacks coherence. Finally, and more generally, one could blame Man On Fire for being sometimes a but too cliché, and a bit too schmaltzy with grandiloquent violins, especially in the first part.