Another superb and stylish action flick from Tony Scott

Rating: Null/10 (24 July 2004)

The script goes places Hollywood usually won't go, with a depiction of sheer ruthlessness which has few precedents in the cinematic canon. This is a refreshing change. We've had enough of wronged good guys who catch up with the villains only to show them mercy, turning away saying "you're not worth it," and only when the bad guy goes for his gun will the hero finally finish him off. Unfortunately, the film throws away much of this built-up credit with a totally-unjustified rabbit-out-of-the hat ending which taints its original purity of vision. The whole thing is rendered with the Scott brothers' trademark visual panache which, personally, I can't get enough of. Among the minor irritants was a score which seemed to specialise in recycling Hans Zimmer's riff from Gladiator which the great man has already recycled plenty of times himself. On the whole, the film is definitely worth seeing.
To Unemployed Critic : if you really believe that The Punisher is a superior film, and that Man on Fire deserves only 1/10, it's not hard to see why you are unemployed. With aesthetic judgment like that, you should be shovelling fries for a living and, let's face it, you probably are.