Jaded ex-CIA operative John Creasy reluctantly accepts a job as the bodyguard for a 10-year-old girl in Mexico City. They clash at first, but eventually bond, and when she's kidnapped he's consumed by fury and will stop at nothing to save her life.
Despite a red-hot performance by Washington as the antiheroic, self-annihilating title character, the film as a whole, while possessing a kind of vicious beauty, feels as cold and as embalmed as a corpse.
– Michael O'Sullivan,
Washington Post,
23 Apr 2004
rotten:
This movie isn't just about a kidnapping; it is a kidnapping, and we're the hostages.
– Stephanie Zacharek,
Salon.com,
24 Apr 2004
fresh:
I'm recommending Man on Fire for that bold style, its unapologetic comic book story arc, and the great performances from Denzel Washington, Christopher Walken and young Dakota Fanning.
– Richard Roeper,
Ebert & Roeper,
26 Apr 2004
fresh:
Intentional or not, Man on Fire's over-the-top evocation of Christian retribution goes a long way to making this otherwise standard revenge fantasy watchable.
– David Ng,
Village Voice,
27 Apr 2004
rotten:
Suffice it to say nothing about this pumped-up, hyperthyroidal Tony Scott revenge flick makes sense, but it takes two hours to kill off as many people and demolish as many vehicles as Charles Bronson used to do in 30 minutes.