Glorifying Torture

Rating: 3/10 (24 April 2005)

Never before have we, as viewers, been asked to cheer so heartily for a hero who brutalizes his victims so graphically. Denzel Washington's character ties a guy up and saws off three of his fingers one by one (although this is sanitized for us -- each time, the guy shakes it off like Denzel had only slapped him). He ties up another guy and shows him how he has inserted an explosive suppository in his rear. And ties up a third guy and blows his hand off with a shotgun.
Yes, Tarantino has already taken us down this gory road, but his protagonists are intended to be amoral cartoons. By contrast, Denzel's character in this film, like his recurring silver-screen persona, is that of the clear and unquestioned "good guy," doing what he has to do, justified in his revenge. I am disappointed in Denzel for making this choice.
I guess this movie teaches us that it's OK to hack off the body parts of prisoners ... as long as they're from a developing country? I suppose this is a new genre: The post-Abu Ghraib action film.