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| Director: | Tony Scott | Plot: | Burnt out ex-CIA operative, Creasy, takes a job as bodyguard for a wealthy families daughter. Mexico City is rife with kidnappings, and before long Creasy is shot and the little girl is taken. Creasy awakens to discover that the girl has been killed, and he burns a path of vengeance through Mexico City. | ||
| Writer: | Brian Helgeland | ||||
| Starring: | Denzel Washington | ||||
| Christopher Walken | |||||
| Dakota Fanning | |||||
| Genre: | Thriller | Cert: |
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Critic - |
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Review:
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Man On Fire is a gritty,
violent thriller set in the heart of Mexico City. Based around
interesting statistics and a city that seems to be forever at boiling
point, Tony Scott has delivered a stylish and touching, yet violent and
disturbing thriller. Centring the action around the relationship between
protector and protected, Washington and Fanning add a needed dynamic to
the film. As the film travels down it's path to the inevitable event of
a kidnapping, you are forced to feel for both these characters. The
relationship between the two is so central to the passion of the film
that the parents are no more than background characters, even after the
kidnapping.
The cast is excellent, although from Washington, Rourke and Walken this is nothing but business as usual. The real find is Dakota Fanning, another child prodigy and future star. She plays her part with such a genuine touch that, when paired with Washington, you believe in the friendship that develops. So strong and believable is the bond between both characters that the inevitable "she saved him from himself" occurrence fits with the rest of the movie. It's not a plot device that is inserted, it's a plot driver that is required. Visually the film is fast paced and epilepsy inducing. The contrast between rich and poor is highlighted wonderfully, as is the contrast between criminal and corrupt. Brutally violent in places, and poetically emotional in others, Man On Fire is certainly a journey that will bring tears to the eyes of some who watch it. However those who turn it on looking for wham bam thank you maam action will be disappointed, but I have a feeling that even they will not stop the film before the end, and they may even find themselves a little sad. |
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