Wrath of Man is the latest from writer/director Guy Ritchie and is a remake of the 2004 French film Cash Truck. The film continues its winning streaking, debuting one year after his return to form with The Gentlemen, which in my opinion is his best film. A significant outcry when the first trailer for this movie dropped was that it showed the whole movie. I’m here to tell you that is not true. This provided a lot of surprises.
Wrath of Man follows H, a cold and mysterious stranger, who is hired by a cash truck company responsible for moving hundreds of millions of dollars around each week in Los Angeles. During one such job, the truck gets held up at gunpoint, and H single-handedly deals with the robbers, showcasing advanced combat skills and training. Secretly, H is hunting for the people who murdered his son during a similar robbery and plans to use his new position to set traps for every would-be robber in the city until he finds his son’s killers.
Simple plot, but thanks to Ritchie choosing the narrative device of showing the central heist that sets the film’s events in motion from various points of view, it made an intriguing and exciting experience. The film also does some time jumping, with the first half of the film having a nonlinear storyline, but it worked well and didn’t confuse. It was very easy to keep up with it. Ritchie managed to balance the multiple storylines very well while injecting a heavy dose of expertly crafted action sequences.
The last 25-30 minutes are very action-packed and feature what is already one of my favorite heists I’ve seen in a movie. Wrath of Man feels very different from the typical Guy Ritchie film, essentially being a revenge film, crime drama, and action movie all wrapped into one. It has his signature snappy dialogue here and there, along with the weird character names such as Bullet and Boy Sweat Dave, but it isn’t the light-hearted fare we are used to from him.
Wrath of Man marks the 4th collaboration between Jason Statham and Ritchie after Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and Revolver, but their first in 16 years, and what a glorious reunion it was. The last time they worked together, Statham wasn’t Statham yet, if that makes sense, so this is different than their previous collaborations. This is a classic Statham role, but it is better than usual as the motive adds layers to his character that most of his generic action films don’t feature. He wholly owns the part of being a complete badass and striking fear on an individual. It was also great to see him delivering some of the classic Ritchie comedic quips. I can’t wait to see what their next collaboration, Five Eyes has in store for us, is an espionage film that brings back memories of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., one of Ritchie’s most underrated films.
Now while I did enjoy the film a lot, it’s not without its flaws. I don’t want to get too into spoilers, but some aspects are very predictable. The film’s specific plot points became obvious instantly for a cinephile like myself without the first couple of minutes. The film also has some pacing issues, as the film runs 118 minutes and could have had 10-15 minutes trimmed without losing any momentum or dipping into the quality. It might have made the movie better as it would have tightened the pacing.
Lastly, in my negatives, the film has a stacked cast with recognizable faces such as Josh Hartnett, Jeffrey Donovan, Laz Alonso, Scott Eastwood, Holt McCallany, and Andy Garcia. Still, most are wasted, and their roles could have gone to lesser name actors and wouldn’t make much of a difference. The only ones that left some impression on me were Josh Harnett and Holt McCallany. I’m a big fan of Mindhuter, so it’s excellent to see McCallany getting work, and he had good chemistry with Statham. It was also good to see Harnett; I think this is the first non-V.O.D. movie I had seen him in since The Black Dahlia back in 2006.
The weakest performance that I want to single out is Scott Eastwood; he is not a good actor. He doesn’t have an ounce of his father’s charisma and you hate that his part was essential to the story because it meant he got more dialogue and screen time than he deserved. However, these aren’t the type of roles he should be getting. A supporting role is best though he has a leading man look, he doesn’t have the talent to back it.
Now I do have to say I’m big on Guy Ritchie movies so that I will like this more than others, but if you’re a fan of his work, the work of Statham or enjoy very gritty and dark action-packed films, I feel Wrath of Man might be for you. I’m glad I went to see it in theaters – one of my favorite movie experiences of this very early year.
