Man on Fire
Creasy (Denzel Washington) had a distinguished military career. But now down on his luck and drunk most of the time, he has found his way to Mexico and his good friend Rayburn (Christopher Walken). He manages to hook Creasy up with a job as the bodyguard of a young child named Pita (Dakota Fanning). The job doesn't pay much but it's something to do. However, the job gives Creasy something more as he develops a rapport with Pita. They become closely connected and Creasy really can't live without her. Soon that became reality as a crime boss oversaw her kidnapping. Himself shot in the line of protecting her, Creasy doesn't fade quietly. Far from it, he is determined to find out who was behind the operation one person at a time, no matter what the cost.

The story certainly lays an outline for something truly great. Guy develops a relationship with a little girl and when she's taken away, he does everything he can to find out who did it. And up to a point, things were working perfectly with Washington and Fanning showing off a very nice and charming on-screen chemistry. Then, when Pita gets kidnapped, the movie loses its way. The film suddenly turns cold. There's no one and nothing to root for. Washington's character does a complete 180 from what we've seen. Sure, we heard it in his resume, but there's no way he went to this great of a length to get a job done, right? Plus, he's given so much latitude by the police that it's no wonder a kid is kidnapped every 90 minutes in Mexico City. The thin revenge plot of the 2nd half forces director Tony Scott to overload on the style with lots of camera tricks and explosions but it's all the more distracting. As a result, it's only marginally better than your typical revenge flick, which seems to be in abundance lately. 2.5 stars