Man on Fire

Scott overdid it, he exhibited too much for my taste. His nervous camera games were too frequent, even annoying, I would say. The simple script was not devoid of logical nonsense, but the ambiguous ending was quite a pleasant surprise. Washington repeats himself as an actor, essentially performing a variation on his Oscar-winning Training Day (you're right, sepp). It was nice to see Walken in a different than his traditionally villain role, and I was pleasantly surprised by the leading girl who gave a very convincing and natural (for a child) performance. Finally, a cool line from a conversation Washington (about to assassinate one of the bastards) has with an old man: "In the church, they say to forgive." – "Forgiveness is between them and God. It's my job to arrange the meeting.” (10/28/2004)

Although I didn't believe it, Tony Scott is capable of a sensitive and unique approach. In other words, he indulges in flashy playfulness only in action scenes and when bringing together a large sad bear and the cutest film child of recent times, he lets the camera stay still and lets the atmosphere take effect. Thanks to this, sensitive moments stand out and twists are filled with emotions to the breaking point. A perfectly crafted filmmaking, created with love, to which the story naturally adds itself. 90%. (09/02/2007)

In order for someone to really like this movie, they probably have to be a fan of Tony Scott in the first place. It has dynamic directing, sharp and lively cinematography, fast editing, blending of colors, and many other directorial tricks that the fans will enjoy, and basically it doesn't matter what the plot is about. (01/20/2005)

*** Spoilers! *** Tony, you’re a good action director, but you don’t have what it takes for a rousing story about a man’s redemption with Lisa Gerrard’s (suspiciously familiar) vocals. At least not for such a subject in an eccentric pop guise. You fail completely in the dramatic construction of the story. You make me emotional in the first half, make me fall in love with the little heroine, and then you want me to feel catharsis during the elimination of her killers without shedding a single tear for her. Your protagonist takes revenge not to rescue her, but for the same reasons that Van Damme administered scissors kicks back in the eighties. The second half of Man on Fire thus becomes just a dull action flick with no dramatic connection to the preceding plot. The “surprising” point is then just the final nail in the muddled coffin. Besides Denzel Washington and couple of music-video-style sequences, Man on Fire has one big positive – Dakota Fanning. (10/02/2004)

Tony Scott is back in form at last. He didn’t hesitate to incorporate epileptic editing, violence and outstanding actors into a raw story about a girl being kidnapped. With a different cast, this might have collapsed like a house of cards, but when the main protagonist is played by Denzel Washington as a devotee of the “dark side", this clearly leaves no room for any humor. Especially when revenge tastes best when it’s cold blooded, isn’t that right? (08/10/2004)