Review

Director Tony Scott’s highly stylized redemption / revenge-flick Man on Fire begins as a slow-simmering character study of John Creasy (Denzel Washington), an ex-CIA operative turned bodyguard who is haunted by his past deeds and desperate to change his life and find a reason to continue living. Enter his charge—a little girl named Pita (Dakota Fanning), who will unfreeze his cold heart and save his troubled soul. Pretty formulaic? It would be if not for the outstanding performances by the exceptional young Fanning and Academy-Award winner Washington. The chemistry between the two is wonderful, and, despite a few clichéd lines, the development of the relationship between the characters has authenticity and the scenes are a joy to watch. The eventual abduction of Pita is all the more painful as a result, and previous scenes superbly validate the unrelenting, unmerciful revenge taken upon the men who orchestrated the act.

Did we mention unmerciful revenge? Remember, for all the cold-heart-melting that takes place in the first half of the film, this is, at its core, a story about payback, and this one pulls out all the stops. Creasy does indeed find a reason to continue living, and it is to deliver pain and death to all those involved in taking Pita away from him, which he carries out with bloodcurdlingly cold detachment. With the exception of one or two scenes, director Scott doesn’t subject the audience to anything too graphic and most of the punishment delivered by Creasy takes place slightly out of view of the camera, but with chilling effect.

More than just your standard revenge flick, Man on Fire is elevated from the confines of that genre by inventive filmmaking and solid performances, including an excellent supporting cast of Christopher Walken, Radha Mitchell, and Giancarlo Giannini. With a heart-warming story and loads of action, it has a little something for everyone. And fans of the genre needn’t fret either—once the revenge begins, the film moves like a run-away truck and doesn’t stop until the dramatic, non-Hollywood ending.

 -- Bill Parker