Altruism is a gift that only a few have. This film is a clear example of a good man, "a sheep that got lost". The performances by Dakota Fanning, Denzel Washington and Radha Mitchell were incredible, in my opinion. Christopher Walken didn't appear as much as I had expected; it's a shame he wanted to help on everything but kill. I would've liked to see him angry for once.

Alcoholic mercenary Creasy (Washington) is all washed-up, until his friend (Walken) finds him a job in Mexico City, as bodyguard for a rich family's little girl Pita (Fanning). The taciturn man and melancholy girl slowly develop a strong bond... that is utterly shattered the day that Pita is kidnapped and that negotiations are sorely mishandled."Man on Fire"'s title works against it. It proclaims an adrenaline- fueled action film, when in fact what we get is very different. What could be mistakenly thought to be a prologue (Creasy is introduced, meets Pita and the relationship is shown) constitutes a good half of the film's running time. Washington and Faning are on top form, the former tortured and angry and the latter endearing without being cloying, so it is a tribute to Scott and screenwriter Helgeland that the film takes its time showing their odd relationship. This makes things all the more hurtful and outraging when she is captured in a kidnapping that leaves Creasy severely scarred, both emotionally and physically.The film earns its title in the second half, not because of non-stop action - which it fore-goes in order to give us something more pondered and cruel - but because Creasy is literally ablaze with silent fury. As he hunts down anyone who participated or profited from Pita's kidnapping, dismantling rings of Mexico City's tower of corruption, his methods get bloodier while his movement actually get slower. Creasy races against time and his own likely death, as a tragic figure who's newfound reason to live has been taken away from him.

This has a good story and some great actors in it. So it was bound to be enjoyable and it didn't fail to live up to that expectation.But I've got an issue with the making. The editing of some scene(where the camera shakes, a lot of cuts happens. I don't know the right term for this) was simply annoying. If I somehow saw this in big screen I wouldn't be surprised to see some people get dizzy!! If the movie lacked this annoying bit I would've given it 7/10 easily.One thing I loved about this movie is how adorable Dakota Fanning was. Her acting was superb and complementary to the great acting from Denzel. An on the topic of Denzel's acting we cant expect anything less from the great actor.All in all this is far far better than typical action movies which addressed some real life problem of that time period in an entertaining way. Without that one issue this could've been a perfect action film.

True Sacrifice.Although most of the movie is quite superficial, the atmosphere presented by the help of excellent audio effects, along with an unforgettable ending - one cannot avoid empathy.I don't consider myself as an emotional guy, but this movie as simple as might be, brings it out of me every time.Denzel Washington at his best.