Over the top but effective revenge flick

Rating: 6/10 (24 October 2004)

There are so many reasons to dismiss this overwrought action film but in the end I had to be honest with myself and admit I enjoyed most of the chaos that ensues in this. Call me human! Story is about an ex-military officer with a long resume in anti-terrorism and weapons but his past is haunting him and he's become an alcoholic. Denzel Washington is Creasy and while in Mexico City visiting his old friend Rayburn (Christopher Walken) he is referred for a job as a bodyguard for a young and wealthy family. Creasy works for Samuel Ramos (Marc Anthony) and his American wife Lisa (Radha Mitchell) and most of his job consists of watching their daughter Pita (Dakota Fanning) whom he slowly begins a friendly relationship with.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
One day Pita is kidnapped and Creasy shot and wounded in the process and as he lies in the hospital he learns that she has been killed when the drop-off for the ransom went badly. Creasy eventually gets well enough to promise Pita's family that he will track everyone down that's involved and kill them and he does this with the help of a reporter named Mariana (Rachel Ticotin) and an Interpol expert named Manzano (Giancarlo Giannini) and he soon finds out that there are many people involved in the recent kidnappings in the city. One by one he finds people that are connected and he gets enough information from each of them before he kills them and all this leads to a mysterious man known only as "The Voice".
This film is directed by none other than Tony Scott who specializes in these action films and he usually does them with a visual flair that's evident here. But even with the visual style this film can't hide the many things that could have (Should have?) ruined this and the first thing I asked myself was how can a 6'1" black American roam about Mexico City without being noticed especially in those rat infested barrios? Washington's character seems to have an unlimited access to any weapon he wants not including the money he's shelling out. One other observance is the extremely loose fitting suits that he wears during the film. Couldn't someone point him to a tailor? But while I point out these flaws I'm the first to admit that Washington is very good in this film and delivers a first rate performance despite the silly material. Fanning bats her eyes and gives one of her patented cutesy roles that screams "AAWWWWWWW"! The film is just way to long at almost two and a half hours(!) and it resorts to some incredibly violent scenarios but I still recommend it because as a "Man determined to get revenge" genre film and the strong performance by Washington it's a film that does hold up enough to entertain most viewers.