3 cut off fingers out of 5
Ah.....The movie cover says it all. Let's inspect the cover and see if we can withdraw a potential movie plot from it.
Denzel in the foreground protecting Dakota Fanning. They are probably not related but he somehow has some connection to her that he has taken the role of protector. Reading perhaps a bit deeper one could conclude that the two colors in the background represent good and evil, or darkness and light, and that somehow plays in too.
Turns out that's exactly what the plot was, but what do we expect? It's your typical Denzel movie. Your standard kinda cool thriller with a predictable ending but with a couple unexpected twists and turns along the way. For two hours you are shown alternating scenes where Denzel shows how much of a bad ass he is followed up by character building scenes where he shows emotion, and the pattern repeats over and over.
Some notes at random on the movie:
A creative way Denzel's character bonded with Dakota Fanning's was the whole swimming competition thing. That was a pretty effective way of the on screen bond building between the two. Good choice.
This movie is 2 and a half hours. A bit long but it's done in a way that doesn't seem that long. 1 hour 15 minutes of buildup is followed up by 1 hour and 15 minutes of Denzel Washington completely losing his mind.
Denzel has a great "Who's the Boss?!?!?!" line. Cute.
There is a scene where Denzel places a bomb literally inside a man, in a way no man ever wants a bomb to be put inside them. You get the idea. This scene was entertaining.
Overall, the Mickey Rourke appearance and the tear jerker ending saved this pretty forgettable movie from being a total loser. The movie may have been able to be shorter than 2.5 hours too. Watch this movie is you have some time to kill and want to see some cool innovative ways to torture and kill people. The relationships are forgettable, but a couple of the story twists at least make this movie bearable.
