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Man On Fire - 4/23/04 - R - 146m - Remake
Denzel Washington - Creasy
Dakota Fanning - Pita
Marc Anthony - Samuel
Director: Tony Scott
Written by: Brian Helgeland (screenplay)
Novel: A.J. Quinnell
Studio: 20th Century
Official
Website
JEF
I did not know this until just now, that this film is also a remake, from a 1987 version. 1987 doesn’t seem that long ago. I’m a little surprised they are picking films from only 16 or 17 years ago to remake.
Storyline: Creasy (Denzel Washington) is an alcoholic out of work mercenary, who picks up a job for a rich Mexican family to be a bodyguard for their daughter. In what appears to be a string of kidnappings in Mexico, Creasy is struggling with his past, and his battle with alcohol, but decides to take the job, as his friend Rayburn (Christopher Walken) assures him it will be an easy job. Well, you guessed it, the girl gets kidnapped, and the majority of the movie is about Creasy’s revenge on the kidnappers.
I supposed my biggest complaint was the length of the film, coming in at 2 hours and 20 minutes. I don’t think I ever looked at my watch (which is always a bad sign if you have to do that), but I kept thinking towards the end that it was starting to drag.
There were some points in the film that I had a hard time keeping up with. It took me a while to figure out who one of the characters was, (turns out he was a sort of Mexican FBI agent); I don’t think I’ll spoil anything, but parts of the ending had both Lyn and I scratching our heads. Also, when you distill this storyline down, it turns into a 2+ hour movie about revenge. Which might be a little much.
On the plus side, Denzel did another fantastic job. I really like his work. He played the part of the struggling tough guy, but also could at times show a warm heart.
The girl Pita played by Dakota Fanning also did an amazing job. She has that ability to appear much wiser than a 10 year old. One scene stood out as an example for this… she asks her mother to pick up more floss because she was out. What 10-year-old kid has to remind their parent to pick up more floss? A cute moment.
The time that Denzel and Dakota shared the screen was something special to watch.
Christopher Walken did a great job too. He wasn’t in the film that much, but when he was onscreen he was the center of attention.
I also enjoyed seeing Mickey Rourke play a lawyer in this one. I look forward to Rourke’s comeback as an actor. It looks like he’s scheduled to appear in a new comic book adapted movie called “Sin City”.
The film started to get me thinking about the main plot of revenge, and was it the right thing to do. On one hand you were rooting for Creasy to do what he was best at… killing. You really felt no sympathy towards some of those that he took his revenge on. On the other hand, the film did a good job at showing the other side of things, and started to make you question if Creasy was doing the “right” thing. I credit this balance of right vs. wrong to the author of the original novel to A. J. Quinnell.
One other item to note… this movie did have subtitles at points, and it was the first time that I’ve seen subtitles done in this fashion. It was great. The words, were animated, and incorporated into the film itself. They visually were part of the film, and not just added at the bottom of the screen to read. Bravo on this. I hope to see more creative uses for subtitles like this.
Supposedly the film is based on a true story, but after a little digging on the Internet, I could not confirm this 100%. A.J. Quinnell is a pseudonym, and some speculate that his books are based on his own personal experiences as a mercenary. But… it could also just be a clever marketing ploy. It doesn’t really matter, as it was a good story no matter what.
If you have the time, and can handle some graphic violence, then you will probably enjoy this film.
Oh, one more item to mention… I didn’t realize until after the credits started rolling that the screenplay was done by Brian Helgeland. After his last film that I bashed called “The Order” I was really glad to see that Brian still can put together a good screenplay. I think I can say now, that I’m still a fan of his work.
Go see this film. I think I enjoyed it enough to look for the original 1987 version of this, or probably even more, I look forward to reading the original novel. (Which from what I’ve seen on the Internet, the movie has very little to do with the original novel, and the novel is supposed to be much better.)
Jef
Here’s what Lyn thought…
