WRATH OF MAN:
RITCHIE AND STATHAM’S FOURTH COLLABORATION IS A TENSE AND GRITTY GOOD TIME!
By Nico Beland
Movie Review: *** out of 4
MGM AND MIRAMAX
Action superstar, Jason Statham (The Transporter trilogy, Crank 1 and 2, Fast & Furious franchise) reunites with director, Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Sherlock Holmes 1 and 2, The Gentlemen) for the fourth time in Wrath of Man, the new action-thriller based on the 2004 French film, Cash Truck which was directed by Nicolas Boukrief. I’ve never seen the original Cash Truck movie, so I have no idea how faithful it is to that film, but as a Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham fan, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
It isn’t Guy Ritchie’s best work nor is it Jason Statham’s best work, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s just a very well-crafted, tense, and exhilarating action movie that isn’t afraid to get its hands dirty when necessary, but with a charismatic Jason Statham performance at the center of it.
The film follows H (Statham), a man who is recently hired as an armored truck driver tasked to move hundreds of millions of dollars across the streets of Los Angeles. But, when his truck gets held at gunpoint during one of his jobs, H manages to take down a group of robbers with a particular set of advanced combat skills unbeknownst to everyone.
It turns out H is hunting down the people who murdered his son during a similar robbery and is now out for blood by using his new position to set traps for every would-be robber in the city until he finds his son’s killers and takes them out.
The film also stars Holt McCallany (Three Kings, Fight Club, Mindhunter) as Bullet, Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice, Changeling, Fargo (TV series)) as Jackson, Josh Hartnett (Halloween H20, The Faculty, The Black Dahlia) as Boy Sweat Dave, Laz Alonso (Fast & Furious, Avatar, The Boys) as Carlos, Raúl Castillo (Looking, Unsane, Army of the Dead) as Sam, DeObia Oparei (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Dumbo (2019), Jumanji: The Next Level) as Brad, Eddie Marsan (V for Vendetta, Sherlock Holmes 1 and 2, The World’s End) as Terry, Scott Eastwood (Gran Torino, Fury, The Fate of the Furious) as Jan, and Niamh Algar (Without Name, Calm with Horses, Censor) as Dana.
Overall, Wrath of Man isn’t Ritchie or Statham’s strongest work, but it’s a gripping and exhilarating action film with plenty of Ritchie’s signature style and wit sprinkled in for good measure. The narrative sort of takes a non-linear approach that’s similar to Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction where it is told out of order with sporadic time-jumps that tell different sides of the story and showing how they inevitably all come together by the end, while it can be an acquired taste for some it’s a very unique change of pace compared to the typical Jason Statham action movie fare.
The action is very over-the-top and in your face that never goes soft, it’s the kind of hardcore and violent action Ritchie and Statham are best known for and to that, I have nothing to complain about. At times, the film gets dark in tone during certain scenes and accompanied with the musical score, some intense scenes often feel like they’re ripped from one of the drafts of Joker so maybe keep that somewhat in mind if you decide to go and see this.
The humor when they happen is funny though I don’t think it’s nearly as funny as any of Ritchie’s other work. The quips and humorous writing are used very sparingly and at times there are a few scenes I felt could have used more Guy Ritchie-style humor, not quite on the same level as The Gentlemen or Sherlock Holmes but it’s fine enough and I did get a few laughs when they were done.
In my opinion, Wrath of Man is a perfect middle of the road Guy Ritchie movie where it’s not even close to being bad but it’s far from any of his greats. If you’re a fan of Guy Ritchie and/or Jason Statham then this film delivers, again not perfect but it’s action-packed and exhilarating enough.
From the blog www.moviewatchinpsychopath.blogspot.com
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