Man on Fire (2004)

Did you people see the same film I saw?

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

FORGIVENESS IS BETWEEN THEM AND GOD... ...IT IS MY JOB TO ARRANGE THE MEETING.Somehow when Denzel Washington says this line it is not as convincing as maybe Van Diesel. Washington and Dakota Fanning did their expected wonderful job, but the ending was all wrong for the movie.The movie starts out slow. Washington plays a Jack Daniels guzzling former CIA agent who reads the Bible. His partner, Christopher Walken, lands him a job guarding Dakota Fanning (Pita). Early in the movie we find out every rich person in Mexico hires a body guard, then gets kidnapping insurance from AIG for 10 million dollars, which the kidnappers know about. This sets you up for the expected plot twists which were not terrific.Denzel doesn't want to get friendly with Dakota, but ends up becoming her friend, father, swimming coach, chauffeur, etc. etc. Dakota Fanning gets kidnapped (box information). Denzel uses his CIA "walking tall" methods to go after the bad guys, which includes half of Mexico. The substandard script, slow beginning, and questionable ending took away from the production.The ending should have included a dramatic escape by Fanning involving her ability to swim as the movie centered so much on this aspect of her life.

Bad acting except for Christopher Walken. Last time you saw a black assassin. This movie is turned up side down. But with paganwood pushing people in roles they normally don't play, well, you have "Man on Fire". And why does every woman have to use violence against a man to get a point across. Bad movie with wrong people playing the important roles. But, again, paganwood does not think white males can do anything and this is coming from white males. That is what is so tragic.

For all calling this an action flick, there were hardly any shootouts, any hand to hand combat, any car chases. When I am watching a movie I dont care about acting, yes it helps but the acting itself helps does not make a movie good. The girl and Denzel put in good performances which make the movie watchable, but it still was a waste of my time. The hero in taking revenge hardly encounters any trouble, kills only a few people to get his revenge and seems to function well for 2 hours after being shot right in the centre of his chest. There is zero action, just some novel torture scenes where the hero elicits information, and voila we get to the end. The girl is cute and the bonding between her and Denzel is the only worth watching part. Walkens is massively wasted.

Best on-screen chemistry i've ever seen between actors. Denzel and Dakota were brilliant. Just acting at its peak.I'm also glad marc got limited screen time cos he kinda complicated the plot.