If You Like Liam Neeson’s ‘Taken,’ Then You’ll Love This Action-Packed Denzel Washington Thriller With 89% on Rotten Tomatoes

Most film fans don’t usually think “action star” whenever Denzel Washington is the topic of discussion. However, he has starred in a few action-packed thrillers over the years, delivering plenty of brutal beatdowns while still retaining the nuance that’s made him one of the best actors in the game. The Equalizer spawned a trilogy and cemented Washington’s working relationship with Antoine Fuqua, and Safe House found him playing against a surprisingly serious Ryan Reynolds. The film that really proved Washington’s action bonafides is Man on Fire, which is now available to stream on Tubi. Not only did Man on Fire reunite Washington with Crimson Tide director Tony Scott, but it actually beat Taken to the “former special operative uses his skills to save a loved one” plotline. In the case of Man on Fire, it also delivers a surprisingly emotional story.

What Is ‘Man on Fire’ About?

Denzel Washington's John Creasy stands by a car and looks off camera in Man on Fire — Image via Paramount Pictures

Man on Fire takes the basis of its story from the novel of the same name by A.J. Quinnell, and follows Washington’s John Creasy as he takes up residence in Mexico. On the advice of his friend Paul Rayburn (Christopher Walken), Creasy takes up a bodyguard job and finds himself protecting Lupita “Pita” Ramos (Dakota Fanning), the daughter of a wealthy automaker. Creasy, having struggled with suicidal thoughts and alcoholism, finds a sort of peace while bonding with Pita, until she is kidnapped by outside forces demanding a $10 million ransom. Once that goes south, Creasy then embarks on a quest to get her back, either outright killing or brutally torturing the kidnappers in the process. Man on Fire might be one of Tony Scott’s darkest films, from its opening sequence, which highlights the kidnapping situation in Latin America in grim detail, to a confrontation where Creasy cuts off a kidnapper’s fingers and sears the wounds with fire. In short, viewers are going to need a strong stomach to get through some scenes.

Though it might seem like your regular action/revenge thriller, Man on Fire also subverts one major trope immediately. Most of the protagonists in an action thriller usually make it out unscathed or take hits during the climax. But in his first firefight with Pita’s kidnappers, Creasy is hit and starts to bleed out. This leads to one of the film’s more surreal recurring sequences, where Creasy leaps into a pool to sterilize his wounds. It’s a haunting image, and underlines that, for all his skill and determination, he’s still human. In an age where action stars have actual contracts that say they can’t lose a fight, it’s genuinely refreshing to see an actual human power through his pain and fight. In stark contrast, while Taken more or less features the same levels of violence, Liam Neeson‘s Bryan Mills rarely faces any significant challenges.

Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning’s Relationship Is the Beating Heart of ‘Man on Fire’

The biggest draw of Man on Fire, other than its graphic action, is the bond between Creasy and Pita. Washington and Fanning have a special kind of dynamic throughout the film: her innocence and curious nature bounce off of his somewhat reserved, jaded character. Man on Fire also takes the time to actually show Creasy and Pita bonding, whether it’s him teaching her how to swim or her naming one of her teddy bears after him. It’s what makes Creasy’s quest to get her back that much more engaging; this is someone he deeply cares for, and he’ll move heaven and earth to save her. Creasy winds up succumbing to his wounds, he manages to have a tearful goodbye with Pita that will leave anyone with a heart sobbing by the time the credits roll. Washington had nothing but praise for his young co-star at the time, saying: “She’s a sweetheart, as you’ll see if you’ve talked to her already. She’s a bright young woman and she’s just a joy to be around. You can’t not like her…Dakota is a child, but she is a wonderful actor.” Years later, the two would reunite for The Equalizer 3, and Fanning returned the kind words that Washington had given her way back when.

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Power isn’t taken. It’s packaged and sold.

Creasy and Pita’s bond in Man on Fire serves as a direct parallel to the events of Taken, specifically the relationship between Bryan Mills and his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). Though Bryan and his wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) are long-divorced, Bryan makes every effort to be part of Kim’s life – even letting her go to Paris on the condition that she calls him to check in. But when kidnappers from a human trafficking ring seize Kim, Bryan moves on the warpath. Despite being outnumbered and warned by one of his old friends that his actions have placed him in the crosshairs of the government, Bryan refuses to stop – even telling one of the traffickers before gunning him down, “It was all personal to me.” WhieTaken and Man on Fire excel at delivering bloody violence, it’s the personal stakes and not the bloody retribution that make them compelling movies to watch.

Tony Scott Isn’t the First Person To Adapt ‘Man on Fire’

Man on Fire 2004 — Image via 20th Century Fox

Man on Fire had a rather mixed critical reception when it premiered, but one person was a fan: A.C. Quinnell. He said that Scott and Washington managed to bring his vision for Creasy to life, saying, “I have to say I enjoyed watching the film. As a writer it’s always traumatic to see what’s been done to your book… But I have to say they did a good job with Man On Fire and I loved the chemistry between Creasy and the girl.” Scott wasn’t the first person to adapt Quinnell’s novel, as Man on Fire‘s been the subject of multiple adaptations including a 1987 film with Scott Glenn as Creasy and a Hindi-language version, Ek Ajnabee, in 2005. Even Netflix is getting in on the action with its own Man on Fire television series starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Creasy. Thanks to Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, and Tony Scott, Man on Fire remains a thriller worth watching — and a surprisingly inspirational one, too. It also makes for a great double feature with Taken.