The Reel Rejects - MAN ON FIRE (2004) MOVIE REVIEW - BRUTAL & MORE EMOTIONAL THAN WE EXPECTED!

Episode Date: April 24, 2026

FIRST TIME WATCHING THE MOVIE as we prepare for Netflix Series Yahya Abdul Mateen II! Click the link http://www.kalshi.com/r/REJECTS or download the Kalshi App and use Code Rejects to get $10 when you trade $10! Man On Fire Full Movie Reaction Watch Along:   / thereelrejects   Gift Someone (Or Yourself) An RR Tee! https://shorturl.at/hekk2 Gregory Alba & Aaron Alexander dive into one of Denzel Washington’s most intense performances, bringing you their Man on Fire reaction, recap, commentary, breakdown, analysis, and full movie spoiler review!! Gregory Alba & Aaron Alexander react to and break down Man on Fire (2004), directed by Tony Scott and starring Denzel Washington (Training Day, The Equalizer) as John Creasy, alongside Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds, I Am Sam) as Pita Ramos, Christopher Walken (Catch Me If You Can, The Deer Hunter) as Rayburn, and Marc Anthony (Hawthorne, In the Heights) as Samuel Ramos. Set against the backdrop of a kidnapping epidemic in Mexico City, the film follows Creasy, a broken former operative hired as a bodyguard who slowly finds purpose through his bond with Pita. As highlighted in the reaction, their relationship becomes the emotional core of the story, making the sudden kidnapping sequence all the more devastating and shocking . Follow Greg Alba:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ Twitter:  https://x.com/thegregalba Follow Aaron On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealaaronalexander/?hl=en Intense Suspense by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Follow Us On Socials:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/reelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ Music Used In Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Happy Alley by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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More on them in just a bit. I remember the trailer way better than I remember the actual movie because I saw it trailers so many times. Oh, wow. But yeah, I don't really remember the actual movie. So yeah, I don't know how it ends. I'm excited to... But, you know, that Netflix show is coming or... It's a show, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was like, yeah, let's watch this now. Let's watch it. Anyway, let's do it, gang. I'll say this movie didn't make a good advertisement of wanting to go visit Mexico. Special thanks to Mexico. Oh, man. Damn.

Oh, that very end of it all. Special thanks to Mexico. Shout out. that's Mexico oh geez wow wow wow well Aaron you finally got a watch man on fire finally did I finally got a feel like I watched mad out of fine I know how it ends wow yeah I don't even know if I got to the action scenes beforehand wow that was that was crazy guys if you wanted to the full reaction watch along with us or you know if you're interested in other ones down the road you can go to our Patreon page

I'm a royal reject and help offset a lot of copyright claims that we often deal with over here. So thank you guys so much for supporting us additionally. If you want to support the channel on a different route, well, patrons get discounts at this shop. But if I want to go directly to the source, Rejectnation Shop.com, getting some new teas. Eric launches a new one, like a new Daredevil-inspired one. You've got a whole bunch of ones you can choose from, represent the Reject Nation. So thank you guys. Thank you guys so much.

And I'll give a heads up. So like when you're a patron here, you're able to participate and being able to, you know, ask questions on our reviews. And originally it's going to be Tara with me, but now it's Aaron. So if there's any questions directed towards Tara, I'll answer them. I'll be Tara. All right, buddy. So we've got like 20 solid minutes here. We've got a good amount of questions as well.

All right. But I want to get your thoughts here on what you actually feel like this movie. as we were watching the movie, you were saying how it was so much different than what you expected. Yeah. So what did you expect and what did it deliver? What did you like about what it delivered?

I was expecting a straight up action movie about this guy on this cool revenge quest to get this girl back. Because I think I vaguely knew had something to do with a girl getting kidnapped, but I didn't know the details of it. But yeah, I thought that it was, a lot more impactful in the way that it went about its delivery and it was a lot more grounded

and a lot more human than I was expecting. I was expecting him to be essentially John Wick just going after these guys who kidnapped this girl to get the girl back. But going through this arc of him being somebody who had an alcohol problem who was on the end of his rope didn't have a reason to live, then rediscovering. joy and life and purpose through this little girl and this relationship and rediscovering the ability to love through his relationship with pita i thought was was beautiful and then just the action um only made it that much better because we got that first nearly hour of her kind of

bringing him and his soul back to the surface and i truly did not expect that i expected the movie for you know him to achieve his goal they walk away together and And they just get to, yeah, continue to have this lovely relationship between the two of them. And he'll just be there to care for her for years to come. But no, he sacrificed himself. He was at the beginning of the movie. He wanted to self-delete. And at the end, he ended up, you know, passing, but not by, not through his, his trauma, not by means of not wanting to exist.

But as a sacrifice, as an act of love. And I thought that was very beautiful. So yeah, this is both action movie and heartfelt movie, which is something I definitely did not expect going in. And I felt like, yeah, the rediscovery of a sense of purpose or fighting for something bigger than yourself. And when the odds are stacked against you or the city and the crime organization is against you in a way that largely feels grounded was definitely not something I was expecting. And it delivered on that front. Like, yeah, why this is a popular movie. Yeah, I agree, man.

I agree. It does subvert the expectations because, like, the whole taking care of little child action movie is like a thing. Yeah, I was expecting, like, the Man and Cub movie, you know? Yeah, they do a lot of that or even the revenge version of it. You know, there's a lot of those stories. And I was aware of, like, the basic plot. That's like, what I remember from the trailers that at some point you're supposed to get kidnapped. I remember the scene, but I'm like, I know the plot.

She's supposed to get kidnapped at some point. So when we were like here, and it was the 45-minute mark, because we were trying to figure out what's going on with the subtitles. They're like, oh, wow, she hasn't even got kidnapped yet. That's crazy. And the movie didn't feel like it was just going through perfunctory beats. Right. Like, oh, we got to do this.

We got to get you to care. And then, you know, we'll go into like some action. movie that you expect because like this movie is like weirdly sensory like this Tony Scott's style that he likes to do and I think this was his first movie that he started doing this shit with

this felt so like in the mindset of the the flashes and the racing thoughts of what this said his name the whole time creasy this creasy character might be going through of like the patterns and everything and the overlapping.

So I thought it was actually like really appropriate for this film when someone is constantly in the, at a battle of like, do I want to live or do I want to die? And like, what do I care about it? Your thoughts are like. You're just kind of in your own little wormhole. Yeah. So I liked it in this film. And as, as it went, it's so interesting because like they have these like cool lines. here about like artist is his is his death is his art and it's about to paint his masterpiece yeah

and this movie gets so dark like it starts off dark but they do such a good job on the relationship with denzil and dakota that it gets light yeah and you're like you're you're immersed in the light so then when it gets dark it's like really dreary you know like And then by the time it ends, you're like, it's not even like this, like, while there's like a couple of cool action moments or like, you know, the bomb the ass and all that shit, the rest, a lot of it does feel like very grim. And there's a heaviness to it. Yeah, there's a heaviness to it. It doesn't quite, it never even goes into, like even John Wick is a movie that like, oh, the dog dies and it's super sad and bleak. And then eventually it's like, what is the coolest fucking action movie ever, you know?

This movie never quite goes into that It feels like torturous and telling of this guy Like it feels dark and messed up And you're seeing all the things of like Of why he was a drunk because of this darkness that's within him And how he can execute such dark deeds Yeah And it never felt like

You know, showcase he And then for a little goes glorifying it No, right? Yeah It's like even though there's like cool lines here and there of like I arranged the meeting with God and stuff like all that shit. Like all those lives were really cool. It never teetered too far to the point where it was like only cool or even cathartic. It was just like, yeah, this is this is like fucking messed up.

Yeah. As a matter of fact, like yeah, we're not trying to flex with how cool we're trying to be. Like this is what I'm doing and I'm done. I'm not going to stop until my goal is achieved, whether it kill everybody involved or save this girl. And I feel like, yeah, once he found that she was alive, his entire mission switch, because that was his priority. He was doing it from place of revenge and vengeance and grief. But then his priority was, I just have to make sure this thing that I covered, this thing that has brought me life and joy is okay. Yeah.

Sad film, man. That was like sad ending. Yeah. Did not expect that at all. I don't lock the spirit. Expect to care that much. I want to go to some questions, yeah? Let's do it, man.

All right. KT. Creasy Bear, I love D&D's chemistry in this movie. It's so great. It's Dakota fanning the best child actor of the best child actors that's ever child acted. She's standing toe to toe with Denzel after all.

I mean, we were talking about that so early on in this of like how incredible she is, especially when you're like precocious child actor. It's really easy to be like, you're a little adult. And yet she still felt like a kid. Yeah. But like a mature kid, you know? Yeah.

She definitely brought that light and that air. innocence to the role but it was something about her performance where you fully believed her even though she was like what like nine or ten or something like that and denzel is already just and a phenomenal actor so for her to believably be in a scene with denzel and you believe that they're connecting and that he is bringing joy into she's bringing joy into his life i was like yeah this is just i could watch like i think i said in the first act i could just watch a two-hour movie of them just growing this relationship and him opening up to her and her learning her skill and like her just like going on to continue to win meets or whatnot or just like whatever skills you

wanted to to um be proficient and like it was it was just it just warmed my heart the first hour i like how he like sobered up yeah for her before she got kidnapped you know wasn't i thought i thought it was going to be when she gets kidnapped he's going to put down the bottle and like get fucking serious about shit but he went through a whole character arc before she got kidnapped, which makes the impact of why this matters so much to him that much more, because he literally changed as a person. Right. Because it's a testament to the acting of both of them.

Because, like, I can't imagine anybody else playing these roles. They were, like, fucking perfect, you know? I think when you talk about this movie, I mean, of course, people talk about he's the man on fire. So, of course, people talk about Denzel, but I think, like, if you see this movie, you should talk about both these guys, like, both Denzel and Dakota. Because without Dakota, like when she has gone, you fucking feel like, oh, we're in a different world now. You know, her presence gone is really palpable. Yeah.

And they make a point of that. Like, even when he goes to her room, you just feel like, oh, this light, this levity, this love is just replaced by this treariness, by this journey, by this crime and corruption. And just the dirty chaos of Mexico City in that time. Or I think, yeah, there was Mexico City, right? Yeah. Yeah. Just, they take Mexico at the end of the movie for letting them depict Mexico in a beautiful light.

Yeah. The most flattering light. Yeah, but just, yeah, you really feel it. And when you finally do see her face, I like that even though I, I never fully bought into the fact that she was dead. But when we do finally see her again, even when the reveal is that she's still alive, they don't show her face until the moment that she and Denzel see each other. I thought that was very well done. Sweet. Want to read the next one?

Rejectation. One of the things I love about a movie like Man on Fire is when a character walks into the room and just has that bond energy. Sharp suit, dangerous, calm. Feels like he could ruin a whole bad guy's week without raising his voice. And speaking of Bond, one of the biggest conversations right now is who will be the next James Bond. Now, our friends at Kalshue, who I was genuinely using during the Oscar season to track who was going to win. Also help me in my friend's betting pool. me thinking about this because for you guys who don't know calci is the largest prediction market in the

world and the only place to trade on all these events legally in all 50 states i've been using it because it's a really interesting way not to just have opinions but actually see what the market thinks so you can trade on things like who's going to be the next bond movie casting even what's happening in the world so let's look at the bond market the links in the description box if you want to pull it up yourself okay so at the time of filming this calum turner he's sitting around 47 percent jacob a lordy around 21 percent and erin taylor jonson around 16 percent so So those percentages are basically the price you're seeing. So if Callum's trading at 47 cents, the market is basically saying 47% chance he gets cast.

And since each outcome is worth a dollar, if it happens, if you're right, you get the full dollar. I enjoy it because this movie lovers, we all have opinions about this stuff. We argue, we debate. But this is the first time I felt like I can actually put that instinct to the test. So if 007 had a gun to my head, I'd honestly take Jacob a Lordy. He's got that cool, like, icy presence. Feels like Bond to me. Plus, I've seen him in person and met him this close.

He's a really good looking guy and he's tall. I like him a lot. Anyway, Rejects, sign up is free. You can click the link in the description box or use code Rejects to check out the James Bond actor market yourself. And get $10 when you trade $10. That's calci.com slash R slash rejects. Thank you, Kalshi, for sponsoring this video. Now, back to that man on fire reaction.

Let's do it. All right. Wait, clap. Kev B. Did you actually find yourself rooting for the torture or did it eventually get to be too much for you? I was rooting for it Yeah I wanted it

I've seen worse But I thought it was just He wasn't it was It was funny No it wasn't even funny I just think that The act of In a different genre

It would have been funny But it was a very Very serious And very he's very like Practical matter of fact About him like yeah There's bomb in your ass Tell me the information you need to know

I need to know And you're gonna die either way But you just need to tell me Or I could make it worse for you He's really good at buddying up Yeah Yeah. He's like, he's like still charming and charismatic while also threatening your life. I'm just like, I'm scared, but I also like you.

Yeah, he's really good at doing that. Yeah. No, I never found it to be too much. I mean, there's so much worse now. And like the Punisher show, as we referenced, it's worse than this. Oh, yeah. And this is also like 2004 with a big budget. And I think back then they would, they would want to temper it a little bit. But even the way it was shot, I think like literally bomb in the ass scene is the most like fucking action movie scene of them all. Just like the ticking clock. and everything and the catharsis of it. But like the guy getting his fingers chopped off, like the way it was like cutting around between his thoughts and past and everything, they didn't even shoot that like the coolest fucking torture scene in the world. It felt like, ooh, this is ugly. Yeah, the interesting thing I thought about this movie was that it was able to be

violent without being graphic. Like all of the violence was very much implied in the way that it was shot without having to be gratuitous or grind housed about it, which, you know, I do like my violent movies, of course, but I respected them for still getting the impact of what their intentions were without needing to showcase it. Yeah, true that, son. Yeah, buddy.

Alan Smithy, aka Ryan, he showed up at our live event. Hey, him in Blu-rays. Yeah, Ryan was the shit, man. Hey, hey, Tara and Greg. Tara. Hi. Hope you enjoyed Muff. Have you heard of the upcoming Muff Netflix series

starring Yaya Abdul, Abdul Mateen the second. Yes, we have. What would you like to see in a TV show version of the story that wasn't featured in this movie? I mean, more brutal revenge killings, obviously. Thanks, Rejects. I was thinking about that as we were watching it. I was like, how would they adapt this into a TV show?

It's based on a book. Okay. Did I know that? Set at the beginning. Okay. Yeah, I was like, how would they change or what would they add? Because, you know, when when filmmakers, adapts books. Obviously, books are like hundreds of pages and you have two hours to tell a story. So a lot of stuff probably doesn't make it into the final cut of the film. And also style plays a lot into, you know, how the story is being adapted. So I'm wondering if this book adaptation of this movie, this show will be more accurate to the book and if it'll capture a different tone than the movie did because Tony Scott is a very stylized director. So I'm feeling, um,

Yeah, I'm feeling optimistic. You know, I feel like Yaya Abdul-Matine is very smart about the projects that he picks. He's very intentional with the roles and things he attaches himself to. I think Wonder Man was, you know, a perfect example of that. And he is a talent who deserves good projects, one, but who always brings his A-game to whatever project that he's attached to. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to it and seeing how different of a version of a crease. he's going to be from Denzel's version. I feel like everything that they do here.

Like this movie, there's a version of this movie that could have been 100 minutes. Yeah. Then you would have lost a lot of the meat, you know? And they did it. So it's one of the things I respect about this movie is how patient it is. Even in his recovery process, it takes time, you know?

And I think they could just really simmer in these beats even longer. And like every relationship probably get some flashbacks, too. That's something like the Christopher walking character and everything. Um, yeah, I hope they don't just try to emulate the movie. I feel like they, they kind of put themselves in a rock in a hard place where it's like everyone's probably watching that show thinking they're remaking the movie when they're adapting a book. Right. So, uh, I hope that they don't feel like they have to adapt the movie instead just adapt your book and do your own thing.

Corey, you, Corey H. All right. What was your favorite line of the movie? And why is it Christopher Walkins, Creasy's artist's death line? It's fucking poetry. That's why man. Yeah, dude. That one and then, what do you say?

I'm like, he has a meeting with God and I'm the one to arrange it. That was also a fire bar. Yeah, that's between God. That's between God and them and God. Them and God. I'm just here arranged a meeting. Yes, yeah, that was a line. About forgiveness.

Yeah. Or something like that. But see, like the walking line's the best one because you can quote it off of listening to it one time. Yeah, totally. And he sees art is death and he's painting his masterpiece. Like he's about to pay. his masterpiece. Like, you only need a hero once. And you're like, I fucking remember that line.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's like perfect. I don't know. There's still reaction to that. But also the other line is as well. I feel like those are the, the two that are just like top tier. And give it up for Christopher walking, man. Like, he was great in this. Usually when I watch Christopher walking, I'm super

aware. I'm looking at Christopher walking. But I believed his character and his dynamics and his history with him, too. 100%. Yeah. And I guess I go back to briefly to the other question. I hope that, yeah, I think you may have said it to you get more of their relationship and more their history as to what's given the context of what you know of where they are now see what brought from at that point maybe find out why he has freaking marks on his hand

in that situation yeah yeah j rushden what's your favorite christopher walking movie dakota's 32 year old they're being now yeah 12 years old there or she's 32 year old now it's either one account um favorite christopher walking movie uh catch if you can for sure That's my favorite one. I can't think of another one. There's no other one that would probably come close. Dune 2 would be my filmmaker answer. But no, my real favorite one is Catcher if you can.

Oh, man, he's done so many. It's funny. I'm blanking on every movie he's ever done up to this point. But he has done a lot of great ones. You know what? He was great. Wasn't he in Hairspray? Do I think we watched him?

Yes. I'm going to say Hairspray because I can't think of anything else right now. Yeah. And you really remember him being in Hairspring. Yep. He was the best part in hairspray. I think he was the husband of John Tolter's character. Yeah. Yeah.

He's good. Take it away, John. All right. Captain Fernandez. This is my third favorite Tony Scott film behind Top Gunn and True Romance. What's your favorite Tony Scott film? True romance. Easily.

That's like a no brain. Have you seen True romance? Who's, who's done True Romance again? Christopher Walkin. That might be my favorite Christopher Wicke. Wait, is he the lead in that? I totally forgot Christopher Warkin. It has, like, such a famous scene in that movie.

Is he the lead in true romance? No, he's got literally one scene, but it's like a famous scene. Oh, okay. Is that the one? No, that's fatal attraction. Is that the Arnold movie? No. Then I have not seen true romance.

No, it's so good. Oh, I love it. It's first, first or second. Tarantino wrote the movie. Tony Scott directed it. Oh, okay. So good. It's brilliant.

Love that movie. It might be true romance, actually. What movie am I thinking of? It was like Jamie Lee Curtis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. True lies. True lies. It's another true movie. Yeah.

That's his favorite Tony Scott movie. It's true lies. No. Shit, this is up there for me. Yeah, I've obviously seen Top Gunn and then what was the one we watched with Unstoppable? It was pretty good. Yeah. I need to cook on this story.

Which one? I would say this one because... I put this above Top Gun. Yeah. You put this as a go Top Gun, no. Is that blasphemous? I'm not a big Top Gun one fan. Really?

Oh, shit. Yeah, I was a little bored when I watched it. I love Top Gun Maver. Wow. I'm just going to be so mad of you. I love the Top Gun one's a little bored of it. Well, yeah, I would say this one because, you know, I don't know if I've seen a lot of Tony Scott films, but this one is definitely great.

Hell yeah. Last one. Last question. John Filios, which Denzel in the Cota fanning film do you like more? A Man on Fire Equalizer 3. Oh, she's an Equalizer 3? Yeah, it was like a big deal. Well, I didn't think she was particularly amazing Equalizer 3.

Her role didn't give her not that much meat. The chemistry was gone? The chemistry was gone. She was characters, wasn't that interesting. Oh, okay. I think out of the movies, I give it to Man on Fire. Equalizer 3 is pretty great, though. Have you seen those movies?

You've seen those movies, have you? Oh man, they're pretty good. Okay. Each one's like different than the other. But Denzel's great at every single one of them. Okay. That's exciting. Yeah.

First one's like, they're classic for a lot of people. Okay. But yeah, I would give it up to, I'll give it to Man on Fire. Man on Fire for me because I have not equalized. Good to know about the Equalized. See who else hasn't seen it. Hey, hello. Anyway, guys, that's it for Man on Fire.

Glad we could do this. Thank you so much for being here. We'll see you guys soon. Reject Nation. Peace out. Doses. I'm going to be