Man On Fire Movie Review:


After last week’s debut of “The Punisher” and the smash of the “Kill Bill” series, it sure seems like the anti-hero is back. Vengeance seems to be the new fuel of the box office. Is it possible that Hollywood saved the best for last?

By 1987, anti-heroes and vengeance action flicks were beginning to fade and the first incarnation of the A.J.Quinnell novel, “Man on Fire” was brought to the silver screen. Scott Glenn was the central character of the washed up body guard Creasy and his young charge was played by newcomer Jade Malle. It was a forgettable film in the long and profound career of Scott Glenn.

In the latest incarnation of the novel, screenwriter phenom Brian Helgeland (Mystic River, LA Confidential) adapts the screenplay. And the film is helmed by action veteran Tony Scott. In this outing Denzel Washington plays the tormented and alcoholic John Creasy who winds up in Mexico City by request from his friend Rayburn (Christopher Walken) to become the bodyguard to Pita Ramos (Dakota Fanning), the daughter of a rich Mexican industrialist Samuel Ramos (Marc Anthony) and his wife Lisa (Radha Mitchell).

Creasy is fed up with his life and has found a permanent hole in the bottom of a Jack Daniels bottle. His ex-military prestige is all but a hazy blur in his head but both Lisa and Pita see something in Creasy that no one else does, trust.

As Pita begins to get inside Creasy’s head and try to understand this “sad man”, as she calls him, their friendship and bond strengthens. Eventually Creasy’s hardened emotions breakaway to a parental fondness and Creasy begins to live again.

As their bond reaches its maturity, Pita is kidnapped and Creasy is brutally wounded. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Creasy vows to bring down every person connected to the kidnapping even if it reaches into the heart of the Mexican elite. Mexico City will burn as one man will rage a war that Mexican reporter Mariana (Rachel Ticotin) and Federal agent Manzano (Giancarlo Gianni) have never seen before.

“Man on Fire” is a revenge flick that needs to be remembered. It is in so many ways what the best of the genre is and so much more. With a flawless performance from Washington, “Man on Fire” continues to show the actor’s brilliance. In a lot of ways I liked him in this more than “Training Day” because in that film I felt he was over the top in a lot of scenes while in this it is such a subtle performance. You can feel and absorb everything that is going on inside this man’s head with just a look or a slouch. He is amazing.

Praise should also be given to young Dakota Fanning, who once more seems to shine. This little actress can act better than a lot of actors 2 or 3 times her age. She is brilliant and rips our hearts out in every scene.

I also really enjoyed the way director Tony Scott brought his film together. The direction brings so much new life into this stagnant genre. I also loved the way he uses subtitles in the film. It is just so unique and brings the audience into the picture instead of alienating us like in so many other films. I also liked the fact that Scott wasn’t afraid to go the extra mile with the heart-wrenching violence and raw emotion. We adore these characters.

In the 1987 version, it felt odd that there was a “Lolita-esque” relationship between Creasy and his 12-year old charge. In the latest version, Creasy’s charge is younger and the film goes more for the parental side of things which makes for a stronger impact. The 1987 film doesn’t allow for the main characters to have a deep bound and we question Creasy’s motives.

The only smallest flaw, if I were to find one, would be the fact that we don’t know more about what happened to Creasy to make him give up. Unveiling the story probably would have taken away from the emotion locked in the core of the film but it still would interesting to find out.

I really was shocked, dismayed and emotionally involved with this film and its roller-coaster of emotion. It is a brilliant and under-rated film. Hands down it is one of the best of the genre.

(5 out of 5) So Says the Soothsayer.
Dean Kish

 

In continuance of the recent entourage of revenge-themed films filing into theaters, 20th Century Fox now unveils Tony Scott’s ultra-violent Man on Fire. Granted Kill Bill, Vol. 2 was a character driven and homage-focused masterpiece, Walking Tall was merely a vehicle for The Rock, and The Punisher was just a pitiful comic book adaptation. Now, with Man on Fire, which is nowhere in the vicinity of Kill Bill, Vol. 2, but more flashy and stylish than the other two recent revenge films. However, clocking in at nearly two and half-hours, the film is too long and is incredibly sadistic, cynical, and grotesque.

The story takes place in Mexico City, where in the last six days there have been 24 kidnappings. With troubling concern, rich industrialist Samuel Ramos (Marc Anthony) and his American wife (Phone Booth’s Radha Mitchell) enlist the services of John Creasy (Denzel Washington) to be the bodyguard of their young daughter Pita (The Cat in the Hat’s Dakota Fanning). Creasy is an ex-CIA assassin that has really just come to Mexico to visit his old CIA buddy Rayburn (Christopher Walken), but before he knows it he is hired to protect Pita. With practically a Bible in one hand and a bottle of Jack Daniels in the other, Creasy is a lost soul trying to find his way. Pita herself is a bright young lady that hampers Creasy with question and after question about everything. Just wanting to do his job, Creasy can not help but let Pita’s sweetness grow on him. With her father and mother away continuously, Creasy becomes her father figure by aiding her in swimming and history among other things. The young child gives her distraught protector a reason to live. However, after Pita is kidnapped and he is left for dead, Creasy turns into a vengeful presence that will not stop until everyone involved in the kidnapping is killed. The second half of the film becomes ultimately brutal, after the tender feeling that Creasy just begins to experience is quickly snatch away from him.

The first half of this film is sweet, and one perceives the vengeance of Creasy coming after Pita is abducted, but his actions are so raw and ritualistic that the film becomes a harsh thread of vigilante-ism and sadism. It becomes hard at times to take in his actions, though the circumstances and his anger is evident. Creasy hacks off fingers, blows away limbs, and even shoves a half of pint of C4 of into a character’s rectum to gain any information about the kidnappers. He is not just murdering this people; he is torturing, humiliating them, and more than anything feeling his wrath.

Great action director Tony Scott does not hold back at all with this film’s savageness. His numerous camera shots and editing is so choppy and quick that it will give you a headache. Scott loves to use four to five different camera angles for a shot, and then he blends them all together to deliver the scene. Being an editor for this director must be a nightmare. He also focuses his shots in and out, as well as combing tones and transparencies to create a murky, more edgy look in certain scenes. The action sequences are well orchestrated and the emotions are apparent, but his camera twirling at times becomes annoying. The action is also typical Tony Scott, in which he gives Creasy many things to blow up, including destroying a vehicle with a bazooka and sending a nightclub in to explosive flames. The subtitles in this film are unlike any that have ever donned the screen. Of course with the ample amount of Spanish spoken, subtitles are used throughout the film. Scott flashes the dialogue up in at times various fonts quickly and spastically with swipes and disappearances. There are also moments with the dialogue is placed in all caps, as for Creasy or whoever is speaking to get their point across. However, it becomes absurd and ineffective when the actors are speaking in English and Scott shoots up the line of dialogue just to hammer home a point.

Brian Helgeland adapted the screenplay from the novel by A.J. Quinnell. Helgeland is a terrific writer, who won an Oscar for co-writing L.A. Confidential and also wrote the script for last year’s Mystic River. There are numerous parts of the story that could have been explained more, which mostly revolve around the film’s twists and secrets. Creasy himself is established quickly as a drunk, and it seems that there was one scene too many of him grabbing the bottle, rather than focusing in on what precise inner demons brought him to alcoholism. Many of the characters are underdeveloped, but this is due to the immense amount of supporting roles in this film. There are also a few subplots that really do not click, but the central factor is of course revenge and love. The love element between Creasy and Pita is believable, but Creasy’s aggressive acts does make your feelings for him slip away.

Denzel Washington is fiercely commanding in his dark role of John Creasy. Washington tone is so cold and calm as Creasy, that he is also eerie. Young Dakota Fanning is absolutely irresistible as Pita, though her delivery is reminiscent of her past work; she is still an adorable joy to watch. As Creasy’s close friend, Christopher Walken is stellar as Rayburn and Radha Mitchell does admirable work in her role as Pita’s mother, Lisa Ramos. Rounding out the cast are singer Marc Anthony, who is moderate as Pita’s rich father and Mickey Rourke, who delivers his usual tactics as a shady supporting character.

Besides being too long and too choppy, Man on Fire is also too sadistic to be recommendable. Though Washington and Fanning are terrific and feelings are made for their relationship in the first half of the film, the violence and barbaric actions in the second half of the film turn this more into a exploitative blood bath rather than a love story of a young girl changing the dark heart of a man who killed as a profession. If you want to see a film of this nature, Luc Besson’s The Professional is a better choice.

Grade: C-

04/21/04

Joseph C. Tucker

Washed up ex-army specialist Creasy (Washington) is given a second chance when long time friend Rayburn (Walken) offers him a job protecting a family in Mexico City. Remote and still drinking, Creasy sees this a just a way of passing the time but this changes when he meets the family’s daughter Pita (Fanning). She gets him to open up for the first time in years and gives him a reason to live. Creasy’s happiness is short lived when Pita is kidnapped and he is almost killed in the ambush. As soon as he is able to get back on his feet, Creasy swears vengeance on anyone that profited from or had anything to do anything to do with Pita’s kidnapping.

The revenge movie is making a comeback but does Tony Scott’s latest have what it takes to dish out some punishment? The answer is a very intense yes.

The flamboyant director utilises all of his MTV style tricks of the trade to bring a visual feast to the screen but the difference is that this movie has the story to match the visuals. Based on the novel by A.J. Quinnell with a screenplay by the excellent Brian Helgeland, this is a movie that doesn’t placate to the normal structure of the action drama. The film refreshingly takes its time building character and cementing the relationship between Creasy and Pita. This is where the picture really works as you really start to care about the characters and their situation. By the time the kidnap happens and the action really starts, you have enough time invested in the both Creasy, Pita and her family for you to feel the same way as principles on screen.

The performances match the quality of the script. Everyone knows that Denzel Washington is one of the finest actors working in film today and in Creasy he portrays a troubled man who rediscovered life. We meet the character when he is emotionally closed, a drunk and wondering around Latin America with no direction, then he meets Pita. At first he sees her as a distraction but slowly, over the first hour of the movie, Creasy opens up to the young girl and becomes part of her life. Washington conveys this with his usual talent and panache, making the character believable and approachable. After the kidnapping we witness the emergence of the Creasy that has tormented him for so long. This is an artist who specialises in death and the people involved are going to pay. In Washington’s performance we don’t ever doubt this.

Dakota Fanning is the best child actress working in Hollywood today. For someone so young, she conveys emotion better than some actors that have been in the business longer than she has been alive. As Pita, she portrays a child character that is likeable, which makes a change for Hollywood. This was a must for the story, as you really had to gain sympathy for her plight.

The support of the two leading characters is also first rate. Aussie Radha Mitchell continues to make inroads into Hollywood with another fine supporting performance as Pita’s mother Lisa. Her reaction to her daughter’s kidnapping is exactly as you’d expect it to be, drawing up all the emotion and pain that comes from that dreadful situation. Rachel Ticotin and Giancarlo Giannini are good as Creasy’s information sources. The smaller supporting are drawn from the always excellent Christopher Walken and the rejuvenated Mickey Rourke.

Tony Scott summons up all of his visual flair to produce a unique look for the movie. He really excites viewer by combining extremely quick cuts and zooms with a yellow tinge to bring the vibrant Mexico City to life. He also utilises subtitles is a unique way, throwing them onto the screen not just to translate the Spanish language but also to highlight key conversations or words. They then fade away into the frame. This is probably Tony Scott’s best movie since True Romance.

While some of the characters are not developed enough and we don’t really get to find out much about Creasy’s background, Man on Fire is still an engaging story wrapped in a blood-drenched coat. The film treats the viewer with a level of intelligence by building character and emotional attachment before snatching it all away from you and dragging you kicking and screaming onto the path of revenge.

Star Rating = * * * *

Jamie Kelwick

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