After seeing the trailer for "Man on Fire" and last year's mediocre "Out of Time," it might seem that Denzel Washington's career has sunk to B-rate movies with lousy storylines and big-money Hollywood explosions.
However, teaming up with director Tony Scott ("Spy Game," "Enemy of the State") on "Man on Fire," Washington shines with Dakota Fanning in a story based on AJ Quinnell's book of the same name.
Washington plays a retired assassin named Creasy. Troubled by the trauma surrounding his military past, Creasy balances his redemption between the Holy Bible and Jack Daniels.
He takes a job as a bodyguard for a little girl named Pita (Fanning), the daughter of a wealthy Mexican couple.
In Mexico City, a place fictionally depicted as a land of corrupt police and large-scale organized crime, kidnapping for high ransom is a problem run rampant.
Creasy becomes a father figure for Pita. Through the course of their relationship, Pita is able to rekindle the life inside of Creasy and defer him from his path of destruction.
This storyline encompasses the first half of the movie. It is a well-written and skillfully acted drama about a man who is revitalized by the purity of youth.
But at this point, the ominous cloud of kidnapping has long settled over the plot of the movie and as was revealed in trailers for the film, Pita is abducted. From here on out, a classic revenge story ensues.
The difference between this film and the countless number of other revenge action films is that in this movie, enough background has been set in place for the audience to truly want to see the criminals brought to justice.
Working his way through the network of corrupt cops and a circle of organized crime known as "La Hermandad," Creasy begins to piece together the scenario.
Throughout the entire movie, but especially once the action begins, the soundtrack to "Man on Fire" is seamless.
In addition to this, credit must be given to the cinematography. From the unique treatment of subtitles for the scenes with a heavy amount of Spanish, to the quick, pulsating camera angles during the action, the movie is aesthetically brilliant.
The only two downfalls of this movie are the portrayal of Mexico City as a place solely run by money-grubbing thugs and the clich?(c) of one man acting invincibly against all, which develops in the second half of the movie.
"Forgiveness is between them and God. It is my job to arrange the meeting," Creasy says before doing something too impressive to ruin with a mention in a review.
Many deaths and burning buildings coincide with lines like this. However, the time spent developing the relationship between Creasy and Pita causes even those who are not fans of action to smirk as the revenge is exacted.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
