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Man on Fire

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Man on Fire (2004)

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Reviews Counted:153

Fresh:59

Rotten:94

Average Rating:5.2/10

Consensus: Man on Fire starts out well, but goes over the top in the violent second half.

Rated: 18 [See Full Rating] for language and strong violence

Runtime: 2 hrs 26 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Theatrical Release:08-10-2004

Synopsis: John Creasy (Denzel Washington) is a lost soul. A former government operative, he has become an alcoholic nomad, searching for inspiration and redemption. An old friend (Christopher Walken) who... John Creasy (Denzel Washington) is a lost soul. A former government operative, he has become an alcoholic nomad, searching for inspiration and redemption. An old friend (Christopher Walken) who lives in Mexico gets Creasy a job as a bodyguard for nine-year-old Lupita "Pita" Ramos (Dakota Fanning), the daughter of Mexican Samuel (Marc Anthony) and his American wife Lisa (Radha Mitchell). Creasy's primary job is to protect Pita from the kidnapping attempts that are an increasing menace to the children of Mexico City's wealthy. A man of few words and many secrets, Creasy initially balks at Pita's attempts to befriend him, but soon a bond grows between the precocious child and this lonely man who is tormented by his past. When Pita is kidnapped despite Creasy's valiant attempts to save her, he will do anything to bring all of those involved to justice. His fury unravels a net of almost unimaginable corruption and greed in the process. Director Tony Scott (TOP GUN, CRIMSON TIDE) builds the relationship between Creasy and Pita in the first half of the film in order to justify Creasy's violent actions in the latter half, and in the process he does a fine job of keeping the film's tension consistently high. [More]

Starring: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Radha Mitchell, Christopher Walken

Starring: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Radha Mitchell, Christopher Walken, Giancarlo Giannini, Marc Anthony, Rachel Ticotin, Mickey Rourke

Director: Tony Scott

Director: Tony Scott
Screenwriter: Brian Helgeland
Producer: Lucas Foster, Arnon Milchan, Tony Scott
Composer: Harry Gregson-Williams
Studio: 20th Century Fox

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Reviews for Man on Fire

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141 - 160 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Think of it: Walken and Rourke in the same movie. That alone is worth the price of a ticket.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
04/22/04
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

An over-big, over-loud, over-heated, over-long, over-everything mess of a story about this year's most popular movie topic, revenge.

Full Review Source: Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies | comment Comment
04/22/04
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

...Scott's style is assaultive.

Full Review Source: Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) | comment Comment
04/22/04
Josh Larsen
Josh Larsen
Sun Publications (Chicago, IL)

Man on Fire is a very good movie because [Director Tony] Scott sets the perfect tone and mood.

Full Review Source: WaffleMovies.com | comment Comment
04/22/04
Willie Waffle
Willie Waffle
WaffleMovies.com

Features solid characterizations, interesting twists and turns, suspense, action, drama and about as many creative ways of accentuating the action as I've ever seen.

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
04/22/04
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

This is a dark but wonderfully created picture of friendship and love.

Full Review Source: Beaumont Journal | comment Comment
04/22/04
Danny Minton
Danny Minton
Beaumont Journal

[E]xacts its most painful retribution upon the keisters of those assembled to view it.

Full Review Source: Lowell Sun | comment Comment
04/22/04
Austin O'Connor
Austin O'Connor
Lowell Sun

Man on Fire shares plot, and plot twists, with Ransom, but it replaces that film’s claustrophobic intensity with Michael Bay-style overkill that’s unnecessary.

Full Review Source: State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL) | comment Comment
04/22/04
Nick Rogers
Nick Rogers
State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL)

Man On Fire becomes riveting in (Washington's) calm, meticulous rage. But gradually it's also undermined by Scott's non-stop, hopped-up-on-crystal-meth-style editing.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
04/22/04
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

Has moments of brilliance -- and by that I mean actual, best-of-the-decade-maybe genius -- but is hampered somewhat by a dreary and repetitive middle section.

Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
04/21/04
Eugene Novikov
Eugene Novikov
Film Blather

Its callous fixation on violence is merely a lame pose meant to distract us from its soggy redemptive core.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
04/21/04
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine

One of the more absorbing and palatable entries in the rather disreputable Death Wish-style self-appointed vigilante sub-genre.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
04/21/04
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Man on Fire feels vaguely like something left over from the 1980s, when action heroes were one-note tough guys methodically picking off baddies.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
04/21/04
Megan Lehmann
Megan Lehmann
New York Post

The first (nonreligious) sure thing to hit the multiplex this year.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
04/21/04
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News

Despite its high craft level and Washington's participation in it, this movie's showy violence is finally as deadening as the over-emphatic violence in these kinds of films generally is.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
04/21/04
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A coldly violent revenge drama that tarts up scenes of wanton sadism with lush art direction, and a spiritual story that invokes serious struggle and prayer for atmosphere rather than content.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
04/21/04
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly

Cruelly underwritten but wildly overproduced, this latest Hollywood example of the vigilante vengeance movie is...at once sensorily fatiguing and intellectually dispiriting.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
04/21/04
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

[Scott's] fondness for intrusive, fake-stylish camera tricks -- jump cuts, speeded-up montages, abrupt changes in light, color saturation and focal depth -- has overwhelmed whatever story sense he once possessed.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
04/21/04
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Scott’s laudable attempt to push the envelope emotionally can’t quite overcome the screenplay’s limitations

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
04/21/04
Chris Barsanti
Chris Barsanti
Filmcritic.com

Revenge films take another bump.

Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment Comment
04/21/04
Victoria Alexander
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com
 
 
141 - 160 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
all

Latest News for Man on Fire

May 20, 2009: Fox International Targets Local Markets Opens in new window
Looking to drum up new(ish) streams of international income, Fox is planning Russian and Japanese versions of library titles such as "Man on Fire" and "Working Girl." More...

September 24, 2007: Denzel, Tony Scott to Take Pelham One Two Three
Pelham is about to be taken again -- and Denzel Washington and Tony Scott are doing the taking. More...

May 21, 2007: Four Directors Up for the Next "Bond" Flick?
Curious to know who'll be directing the next James Bond flick? Join the club. One source has a short list of potential helmers, all of whom would be pretty ... distinctive. More...

November 21, 2006: Critical Consensus: "Halls" Spreads Little Cheer; "Déjà Vu" Intrigues; "The Fountain" Overflows; "Pick" Is Mixed
This week at the movies, we've got holiday mischief ("Deck the Halls," starring Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito), a phenomenon known as déjà vu ("Déjà... More...

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