Many of my reviews are facetious, but “Man On Fire” (2004) is too good to deserve that. It’s also too dark for some people to like or understand. I think that says more about those people than about the movie itself. It’s beautiful and ugly, jarring and tender, bloody and ethereal. Denzel Washington, an alcoholic former (CIA?) assassin, turns up in Mexico. His paramilitary buddy, Christopher Walken, helps him get a job as a little girl’s bodyguard, setting off a story of vengeance, amorality, justice and classic movie lines. Forgiveness? That’s God’s job. Denzel’s just there to arrange the meeting.
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“Sicario” (2015) is a cross between “Syriana” and “Man on Fire,” except “Syriana” had the idea first and “Man on Fire” is more poetic. The idea? America’s amorality in wielding its power is the reason all these poor, unwashed countries are such a pain in the ass to deal with. This one focuses on the drug trade in general and Mexico in particular. It really pisses me off when filmmakers act like America invented imperialism. Note to Denis Villenueve: History didn’t begin when you slid out of the womb. Still, those are two pretty good movies to be compared to.
Denzel Washington is Clint Eastwood with a nailgun, cleansing the high plains of Boston in “The Equalizer” (2014). You will either love or hate its bloody, vigilante-style violence. I loved it, particularly as viewed through an earlier Washington character from one of my all-time favorites, “Man on Fire.” In that 2004 movie, Denzel’s Creasy is a lost soul atoning for past sins. Here, his activities, while achieving the same goal through the same methods, are that of an avenging angel. Are those characters that much different, or is it simply our perception? Either way, I look forward to the sequel.
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