Movie Review: Man on Fire

Man on Fire (3/5 stars)
I must admit, this film was a lot different than I imagined it would be. It takes place in Mexico City, and involves an underground kidnapping-for-ransom problem (children and adults). With an R rating, this film was violent in spurts, all revenge-related, but nothing a desensitized mind can't handle. The director, Tony Scott (Deja Vu, Enemy of the State), uses his typical sharp/jumpy editing and rack-focus camera work throughout the entire film, which means I think it's over-done. Although, aside from that, I thought the cinematography was very beautiful, with strong color contrasts and monochromatic schemes, appropriate to the scene mood. At over two hours long, it doesn't feel lengthy by any means, but a lot of the film time was taken up by character development, which might be disappointing to people who are expecting an in-your-face action film.

Denzel Washington did a great job, of course, adhering to his typical forced-heroism role. Contrast to that, there is a scene in which his character portrays a moment of ultimate defeat, attempting the 'only-way-out'. Dakota Fanning is only in about half the movie (you can probably guess why from the premise), but as far as young actors go, I think she's fairly decent. She's a fast, articulate talker in everything I've seen her in, which to me screams intelligence hidden by a harmlessly cute facade. There are some very tender and cute moments of bonding between these two characters, thankfully not over-done by either actor or script direction. Rhada Mitchell plays the mother, and I always love her in anything, however similar she plays her characters in any genre. She gets one explosive scene in the whole movie, which was like a time-bomb, so much that it gives you a little jolt and a moment of panic.

Overall: good acting, beautiful cinematography, standard script, typical storyline but with a few twists, and decent ending. But because I gave it 3/5 stars, that means it's not something I'd ever watch or rent again.