Fire with Fire

Josh D. is not built for a role like this. He might be good at the romantic stuff he does, but as a lead in an action packed movie like this, it feels like he's a fish out of water. Or a fireman without water. Both not ideal in any case. Rosario Dawson is good as always, but she doesn't have much to do. Even the charismatic Vincent D'Onofrio, who's the best of the bunch in here, has more presence than our lead actor. Not to mention a almost perfect phone call with our main guy.

The action scenes are very good. There will be blood so to speak. It doesn't skip on the violence. It does skip on the logic part ... but that's not the reason you chose to watch this movie. It's entertaining enough, if you generally watch a lot of movies. Do not rent this because of appearances by the Jacksons (Curtis (50 Cent) and/or Rampage). They're not really long enough in the movie. And their story line isn't really thought through either. Anyway ...

"Jeremy Coleman" (Josh Duhamel) is a dedicated fireman for the city of Long Beach who just happens to witness the cold-blooded murder of a convenience store clerk by a man named "David Hagan" (Vincent D'Onofrio), who is also the leader of an Aryan supremacist gang. Although he agrees to testify, what he doesn't know is that David Hagan is more than eager to kill him to prevent that possibility. As a result, Jeremy is put on the witness protection program, and while in New Orleans, falls in love with one of the marshals by the name of "Talia Durham" (Rosario Dawson). Unfortunately, this has severe consequences as David finds out and now has another bit of leverage to use against Jeremy. Now, rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that it started out pretty well. However, the last 20 minutes or so were completely ridiculous and really ruined a fairly solid film. So much so that I feel compelled to rate this movie as slightly below average.

"I'm a ghost, I don't exist. I'm gonna find you and I'm gonna kill you. I'm gonna disappear and no one is ever gonna know." After stopping at a convenience store and talking to his owner friend Jeremy Coleman (Duhamel) becomes witness to a double murder. When they decide not to kill him Jeremy is left alone to ID the murderer. Not wanting loose ends Jeremy is now a target and he must now fight for his life to survive and also to take care of the killer the the cops have been trying to get for years. I will start by saying that I am a pretty big Bruce Willis fan but he has been very hit or miss lately. I really liked "Catch .44" but thought "Set-Up" was lame. Also as a disclaimer the quote I used is actually from this movie, not from the movie Taken so don't let that confuse you. The movie itself isn't anything new or amazing but it is actually pretty fast paced and keeps you interested and watching the entire time. The movie when you break it down is just another vigilante type revenge movie but again because it's so fast paced and entertaining you can't stop watching. Also Vincent D'Onofrio gives such a great performance in this that watching for just for him is almost enough to keep you till the end. Overall, this is a fast paced exciting action movie that is the perfect kind to just put in and veg out to. I liked it. I give it a B.

The plot has more holes in it than Swiss Cheese. Bruce Willis should be ashamed of himself for being in such drivel, obviously he just did it for the money.

Sorry, but I can't bring myself to give it any stars at all.

Placing Bruce Willis, very minor role, in a film and not using him to add to the action and thrill effects of the story is crazy. The villain is better than the hero and the hero once he decides to seek revenge is poorly matched to come against men who live for violence. The basic idea is that a good hearted man will always win the day and be able to rescue who he loves the most. There is a lot blood in this movie, romantic scenes without the sex, and the skilled City detectives and Federal agents are portrayed as totally inept goof-ups. One angry man against a whole lot of prime criminals. This is a wonderful fantasy but is it possible for Hollywood to ever make a realistic crime thriller?