Excellent action/drama---8/10

Rating: 8/10 (13 October 2004)

Man on Fire takes the standard revenge story to a whole new level. Denzel Washington stars as Creasy, an alcoholic ex-marine who is hired to protect a young American girl (Dakota Fanning) in Mexico City during a wave of kidnappings. Denzel and Dakota have an amazing chemistry on-screen, making her character's kidnapping and Creasy's ensuing killing spree much more effective. Washington is again Oscar-worthy in a performance which is as good if not better than that in Training Day. Fanning is charming as usual and you become attached to her as Creasy did. The great cast also includes Christopher Walken (who is especially good in this movie), Rachel Ticotin, Giancarlo Giannini, and Radha Mitchell,(who also turns in a really good performance, not to mention hot.)
The movie is directed by Tony Scott, who has directed some of my favorite action movies, such as Enemy of the State and The Last Boy Scout. He does a great job here as well, with some great shots and a clever way to put in subtitles. However, some of the quick cutaways and camera movements do get a little annoying, but it is a minor drawback. The only other flaws, which are little bigger, were that it could be a little predictable at times and the ending could have been better. By better i mean letting Creasy live! I hate when they make you love somebody whether hero or villain, just to have them killed. That really doesn't take away much though, because it could also be really unpredictable and the ending is powerful, but i am sure everyone would have liked to have a more Hollywood ending to this one. Usually, i don't like Hollywood endings, but i really wanted Creasy to live. Damn reality!
All in all, Man on Fire is one the best movies of the year and is packed with action, drama and great performances. This should win some Oscars but the Academy sucks so it won't. 8/10