Man on Fire

The last blog I posted inspired me to do another movie review. I chose one of my old favourite action movies. This movie doesn't have your typical plot or ending, but thats what kept me so interested! Here is a review...

Man on Fire is a vicious, uncompromising look at the effects of a kidnapping in Latin America. It is also a heartfelt character study about the relationship between a young girl (Dakota Fanning) and her bodyguard (Denzel Washington). The film opens with subtitles explaining that a person is kidnapped every sixty seconds in Latin America, and only 70% are likely to survive. We witness an everyday businessman being dragged off of the street from his wife and into a getaway car, held for ransom, and finally returned to his family in the middle of a freeway, nearly naked, and physically damaged (I’ll skip the violent details). This continued wave of kidnappings leads a couple (Marc Anthony, Radha Mitchell) worried about their only child, Pita (Fanning), to enlist the protection of an ex-government operative named Creasy (Washington), who is haunted by his crimes against man and spends his days drinking life away. Reluctantly, he accepts the job.
Every day, he coldly whisks her away to school, uninterested in her or her interest in him. Eventually, he warms to the girl because of her smart but somewhat innocent nature. As their relationship grows stronger, so does his will to live. One day, as she is coming back from piano practice, she is abducted, and Creasy is shot several times by the abductors and left for dead. When he awakens, he begins investigating the kidnapping and unleashing his wrath on those responsible.
Man on Fire is a moral drama about replacing an unacceptable evil with one that is acceptable. Though wanted by the police for his wave of destruction, Creasy fills the void that the girl’s kidnapping creates. Washington, who sank into a brief mediocre muck with John Q and Out of Time, returns to playing a multi-layered character who must not only overcome obstacles, but his own demons. Though he is tormented by the loss of Pita, he still takes pleasure in exacting his vengeance.