You know what you’re going to get when Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham team up, this is more of the same, which isn’t a bad thing.
As we all know, Guy Ritchie is an action, heist, multiple timeline aficionado (a bit of mouthful I know), an auteur if you will, and this film follows suit in ticking all those genre boxes. Although this time, he’s dropped the light-hearted British humour, and decided on a more serious and gritty tone, which I am all for if that’s what it needs to be. Wrath of Man – which is loosely based on the 2004 French film Cash Truck by Nicolas Boukhrief – is split into four parts, with each segment circling back to one main incident that is the catalyst for the chain reaction of events. It involves a mysterious man called H (Statham) who starts working for a cash moving truck company, soon he becomes known for being super-efficient and fearless when neutralizing potential robbers. However, H isn’t looking for a career change, he is out for revenge, which sets the wheels in motion.
Jason Statham (we all like him, don’t we?) is very much a one-dimensional actor these days, it is something that has stuck with him for many years. The thing is, he really is effective at what he does; a modern-day action star legend, and this is his bread and butter. Although, a stellar cast also joins Statham on his rampage, with the likes of Eddie Marsan, Josh Hartnett, Niamh Algar, Andy Garcia (who may as well have not been in it with his 5 minutes of screen time), Scott Eastwood, and Jeffrey Donovan. Speaking of Eastwood, he isn’t his dad – that’s a given – but when you keep his dialogue to a minimum and leave it as that, then he can be of use, and he is a decent, albeit a simple villain, one that stares a lot.
There is very much, especially at the start, this kind of male infused bro dialogue that is slightly over the top and cheesy, but this isn’t a film that should be judged on its chit-chat, is it? These films are judged on their action sequences, and it is safe to say that they are exciting and efficient at carrying the film through the parts that it struggles with. The sequences I speak of are very violent, they are extreme but very stylish, just what you want from a modern-day action film. You can’t have a revenge thriller without a well thought out plan of action and a small twist though can you, even if you see said twist coming from a mile away, it delivers enough excitement to leave you feeling appeased.
Wrath of Man uses multiple timelines to establish its story, all from different perspectives, and although it is quite a commonly used tool for heist films, it just feels like the pacing is a little bit off and the story comes across as being slightly uneven. Statham himself also felt quite underutilized, which is strange as he is the pull – he’s the only person on the poster for one. Nevertheless, he’s still the best thing about the film; he is menacing and cruel but with a fair conscious, very meticulous but incredibly unforgiven. H certainly has a vicious aura about him, so you’d have to say good job Statham my man.
Wrath of Man is a stylish action film that does exactly what it says on the tin, you see the wrath of a man hellbent on revenge. Now, if you were expecting something a little more… adventurous, then just give the title another read, have a little look at who’s in it and your questions will be answered. Films like this are a park walk for the stoic-for-life Jason Statham – reteaming with Ritchie for the first time in 16 years. With a basic script and story, there isn’t much else he can add to the character, but he does what he does best and that is enough.
Due to Covid this film was only released in a handful of countries earlier this year – with the UK not being one of them – which is why it makes sense to look at it now that it has just been released on Amazon Prime worldwide. It settles somewhere in the middle for Ritchie, a film that is perfectly suited to be in between two of his more anticipated films, The Gentlemen and Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre, the latter of which is set for release next year some time.
Wrath of Man is available to watch on Amazon Prime now.
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