I'll spare you a secret Tony is no Ridley

Rating: 3/10 (2 May 2005)

I'm a big admirer of Tony's great achievements like "Top Gun", "The Hunger", "True Romance", and "Crimson Tide", but lately, IMHO, his work has fallen just an inch above mediocrity, and with "Man on Fire" he didn't even reach that mark. It seems like he tries to compensate the lack of a good script with a bunch of editing efx with numbing color filters and shaking camera shots as well as hyper fast zoom ins and an exasperating abuse of slow motion takes. This pretentious flick looks more like a huge MTV gangsta rap video where great actors like Denzel Washington and Christopher Walken are forced to "pose" instead of acting, to achieve this over wasted 360 degree shots just to make the scene look cool, well, it didn't work for me, If I would wanted to see pretentious editing efx I would go with a Darren Aronofsky film. But what bothers me the most is the way Mexican delinquency is portrayed, now don't get me wrong, kidnapping has become a very serious issue in Mexico, that can't be denied, but instead of giving the issue a serious approach, Mr. Scott goes for the Hollywood formula of transforming Mexico City into a fantasy place full of mariachis, massive raves and colonial streets with no traffic jams!!!, and the kidnappers are "professionals", very intelligent villains with unlimited resources that spend their time thinking how to conquer the world as they twist their moustaches. Maybe it's just that I live in Mexico City, but it really bothers me the cartoonish view Americans have of Mexico. At the end, this movie is a monumental mess with a lot of plot holes, clichés, and stereotypes with just one redeeming aspect that can be summarized in two words: Dakota Fanning
My rating: 3/10