Man on Fire DVD: Review By justincase

John Creasy (Washington) is a CIA contract killer with more than enough skeletons to fill the various closets in all of our houses. Creasy is a hardened professional, turned alchaholic and detached from humanity. Creasy is desperate for redemption...or death, when he stumbles into a bodyguard gig, watching over Pita (Dakota Fanning) for her wealthy and self-absorbed parents played by Marc Antony and Radha Mitchell. Creasy's last grip on humanity is weakening and, amidst flashbacks, he confronts his demons and yearns for death. Eventually, Pita softens Creasy, tugging at his heart strings and yanking him back to life, gasping and kicking. When Pita is kidnapped and Creasy is left dying in the street, the wheels go into motion to deliver the K&R bounty to return the child. A botched ransom drop and corruption on all fronts leads to Pita's certain death...sending a still convalescing Creasy on a revenge binge that is both brutal and heartbreaking.

Man on Fire harkens, simultaneously, to the Mel Gibson pic, Ransom and the Russel Crowe starrer, Proof of Life. In fact, that was probably Helgeland's pitch... "it's Proof of Life meets Ransom". Well, with Crowe's pic getting killed at the box office and doing only marginal DVD business, that was -- in itself -- a pretty risky pitch, I'm certain.

A fantastic supporting cast, including the ever-amazing Christopher Walken and Mickey Rourke also counts among the ranks Rachel Ticotin and Marc Anthony. The crew is directed by Tony Scott who delivers a signature look and flow with shaky, grainy camera work and fast mix-cuts that help create the mood and emotion...if not a little seasickness for the audience. Brian Helgeland's script is solid, although not by any means groundbreaking.

Denzel's character, Creasy, is our "gateway" to the story. He's the guy we want to win. This is more than slightly ironic, too, since he's a used-up mercenary...the violent remains at the bottom of the bodyguard discount bin. The flipside to Creasy's coin is Creasy's friend Rayburn, the CIA guy that "made good", settled down and raised a family. He's found the peace that Creasy desperately seeks. Rachel Ticotin is the hard-as-nails reporter with a good streak, willing to put her pillow-talk to work to help Denzel bring down Le Hermandad, the brutal brotherhood of corruption responsible for Pita's kidnapping. One point that needs to be made is that never have there existed more loathesome parents, deserving of having their child taken (obviously, I'm not condoning or advocating kidnapping...get real) than these two. It isn't bad enough that Samuel is a spineless wimp of a father that can't even protect his own and doesn't have the balls to do the right thing. Lisa is so self absorbed and caught up in her own life that she leaves Pita largely to her own devices. HOWEVER... how GODDAMN DUMB does a parent have to be to leave their young daughter with an alchaholic mercenary, even if it is for her protection? Enough said.

Mexico is our other main character... Let's face it... In Mexico, it's hard to come by money. It's easy to be corrupt. This isn't only in the movies... this is real life. No suspension of disbelief here. Kidnappings (of kids, of expatriated executives, of politicians) happen all the time. Here's a question... With all of the security afforded the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S.... When was the last time you saw G.W. make a state-visit to Mexico? Hmmmmmm. Mexico is a corrupt, piece of sh*t third world country where cops assist in, and in many cases mastermind, kidnappings for ransom. Ordinary citizens flee north, crossing inhospitable desert (although, thanks to the compassionate left-wing souls in our good ol' political machine, we are now providing "hydration stations" so they don't die of thirst... what the hell?). Upon arrival, these refugees seek hard manual labor (bordering on slavery) and duck and dodge violence, poverty and deportation. Mexico is like a sinking ship... rats scurrying off it as quckly as they can. Amidst this chaos (to say nothing of their dreary economy), kidnapping probably seems a fair endeavor for an enterprising and well connected entrepreneur.

The story line is gutwrenching, especially for parents with young kids. Let's see if you don't make an extra lap around the house, checking your doors and windows after you sit through this movie! At the same time, though, it is a movie, with a few holes and predictable arcs that are evident, but not huge detractors. Almost like Kill Bill, delivered in two stylistically unique halves, Man on Fire starts slowly, emotionally and meaningfully. By the end, though, the picture is firing from Scott's preferred arsenal and delivering the slaughterhouse.

While Denzel's performance won't play to The Academy at the '05 Oscar ceremonies, it was solid and proved that he's still got the chops to serve up revenge in brutal freestyle. From a barbaric manicure to an explosive rectal suppository, Denzel bellows forth in a blinding series of cuts accompanied by scratchy guitars and melodic Hispanic riffs dishing out justice in broad strokes.

As Walken's cool, collected Rayburn said, Creasy's art is death... He's about to paint his masterpiece... I don't have anything more to say...

Scott and the DVD gang really shorted the audience on this disc. What could have been a compelling look at the book or at the world that Creasy allegedly inhabited (CIA operations) turned out to be 2, count them... not 1, but 2 barely passable and generic commentaries, one with Fanning, Helgeland and producer Lucas Foster. The other commentary is by Director Tony Scott.

Don't get sucked-in to thinking you've got a "Behind the Scenes" featurette on this thing. Instead, you get an "inside look" at "upcoming films from FOX. What a rip-off.

The features on this disc suck. Big 2 on the score meter. Only reason I lavish a 2 on the features is because there is SOMETHING there.

Scott's trademark cuts and grainy camera work come to life in 2.40:1 widescreen. The tones and palette of the film are dark, in the way a 3rd world country never seems to be lit the same way that sunny San Diego sparkles. You know what I mean...? Dim and dirty, the tone delivers so much of the mood, yet passes almost unnoticed, as well it should.

Scott's work is defined by the sight and sound of the picture. Deep, thundering base invades your 5.1 and is sure to make your neighbors shudder. I leverage the Dolby Digital ... but only because my damn tuner's DTS is hosed (along with a short in my composite video outs rendering me stuck in s-vid, NOTE TO THE PHILLIPS GUYS: HELP! Send me some new home theater equipment to review!...but I digress).

Hearty and satisfying, this revenge actioner is solid entertainment that will be appreciated by the young and old, male and female in your home. I'd suggest you save the rental fee and just BUY IT. There's a place on your shelf for this film and if you rent it first, you've just wasted $3.99.