Kick ___!

Rating: 10/10 (2 January 2006)

"Man on Fire" is an original, modern tragedy of sorts, a lost man's redemption by love and sacrifice. Extremely well acted by an all-round great cast, the film features a tight story line and refreshingly terse editing. Good dialog throughout with some great lines (although it's hard to pick all of them up in one pass). The original, creative photography style is abetted by the exotic Mexican locations. Simply slam-bang action. Denzel Washington is in great form, and Christopher Walkin has a great small role. What more could one ask for? If violence puts you off, maybe there's that, but otherwise, this is just a top-notch film. Key relationship between Creasy (Washington) and Pita (Dakota Fanning) is unique and well developed. An all-round great job, well worth seeing repeatedly.