Review – Man on Fire

The revenge flick seems to have undergone some changes in the wake of Sept. 11. This probably isn’t the time or the place for an in-depth discussion of the new trends, so for now suffice it to say that this particular movie is a great example of at least one of the new key elements: heightened levels of brutality used by the “good guys” against the villains. The set-up here is elaborate, with director Tony Scott devoting around an hour to establishing a tight bond between a burned-out clandestine operative (ably played by Denzel Washington) and the poor little rich girl (Dakota Fanning) he’s been hired to protect. His role switches from bodyguard to replacement for her absentee businessman father just in time for him to fail to save her from kidnappers. Then the vengeance begins, and it’s vicious stuff. The sad part is just how emotionally satisfying this simplistic action/reaction turns out to be. The script isn’t the best, and the production is plagued throughout by the Scott brothers’ usual visual high jinks. That aside, this is an entertaining bit of violent fluff. Mildly amusing