Better performance: Man on Fire, Training Day or American Gangster?
Of his badass roles, which do you think was his best performance?
"I am the ultimate badass, you do not wanna `*beep*` wit me!"- Hudson in Aliens.
Man on Fire is the most emotionally demanding (and resonant) performance as he has to display a huge spectrum of emotions that run from anti-social, suicidal drunk to loving father-type person to brutal, stone-cold killer to exhausted, bullet ridden body guy,...it's a remarkable performance full of passion, love & rage.
Training Day is the most iconic performance and probably the one where he reach the highest heights, the power of his acting during the last third of the movie can stand with any performances from the last 15 years, I especially love the whole "This *beep* chess, it ain't checkers" car's scene, all the talent of Denzel as an actor is in this scene.
I don't rank American Gangster on par with the first two but it's still a great, subtle performance, underrated by some, Denzel is such a natural, with such born grace, that sometimes his performances seem to come too easily to him, I really like how he act with his (sometimes scary) eyes in this film, most of his greatest moments are very often the wordless ones and of course his charisma is on full display.