Man on Fire (2004)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2004
	Director: Tony Scott (Top Gun, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State)
	Actors: Denzel Washington (Deja Vu), Christopher Walken (The Dead Zone), Dakota Fanning (War or the Worlds), Radha Mitchell (Pitch Black, Surrogates), Giancarlo Giannini (Mimic), Mickey Rourke (Iron Man 2), Rachel Ticotin (Total Recall)
	Country: USA, GB
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 15.03.2015, SD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: Ex-military and now with a drinking problem, Creasy (Washington) accepts a job as bodyguard in Mexico City. He has trouble socializing with the little girl (Fanning) he is taking care of.
Review: In short: I found the story great, the actors fitting and natural, and the tension build-up in the first 45 minutes well told, but after that I found that Tony Scott abuses of the flashes and fast cuts which, although typically his style, do a disservice to a movie that I could otherwise have loved. More in detail now. I loved to see under-used actors like Christopher Walken, Giancarlo Giannini (great in Mimic) and Rachel Ticotin (I knew her only from Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger). And for a kid actress, Dakota Fanning is incredibly natural. Mickey Rourke is not really useful to the story, Denzel Washington in his usual self and Radha Mitchell is in her sexiest role, but sensitive as well. You know from the beginning where the story goes, and I feared that it would go there too fast without letting us know our characters but it doesn't, showing that the regretted Tony Scott knew how to tell a story. The rest of the story is also well told and satisfies our lust for revenge, but as I mentioned already it is shot in a manner that I found too "video-clip"-style and not fitting the displayed emotions. The same style can be recognized in Enemy of the State (1998), The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) and Unstoppable (2010) but it didn't disturb me so much in those movies as they were less "serious" emotionally.
Rating: 7 /10