Wrath of Man: Review by @Kush_Hayes

It felt good to get out tonight. Its been 420 days since our last theatrical review and while I would like to give extra sentimental points to tonights newest Guy Ritchie movie I cant do so.

The Jason Statham starring feature has a strong but brief start. Its very efficient. Its very clean. It then gets out of control. Much like the robbery we are witnessing. But once we get into the motive of how our Main Character, H, lost his son in a robbery gone wrong, things just fall apart. 

When we meet Jason Statham, he is applying for a job with the Fortico Security Company who specializes in transport of large cash deposits. Stathams character plays his interview as if hes an everyman, and there are chuckles when you think you know hes a special badass, but then you find out what kind of badass he truly is and believability starts to be questioned.

Now we have had revenge fantasies where your everyday ordinary man is pushed past the brink of the edge. We have had revenge fantasies where a bad guy unleashes hell upon another set of bad guys. But these stories tend to take place over a convenient 24-72hr period. You know, because murders are taking place, so the cops will catch up to him eventually. This story takes place over a full six months where regardless of his identity, bodies pile up, fast. Stathams first cache of violence, on the job as an Armored Car Guard, comes off as your run of the mill, defending himself, his partner and the payload theyre transporting. ...But then a foot chase happens that leads to flat out murder with Mr Ritchie giving us fractions of fractions of a second to see what Post Malone looks like spread out on concrete. 

Despite the fact that he has “a man on the inside” a blind man can see what happened there. And I refuse to believe an armored car robbery in Los Angeles, regardless of the outcome wouldnt make some kind of regional headline. 

We do eventually meet the men responsible for the loss of Stathams son, and theyre a former military squad, now retired, now struggling back in the real world. Struggling with ptsd, and making ends meet, and even struggling to understand what country they were fighting in as one alludes with his passive racism that even makes his own team roll their eyes at him. Yes, that guy gets the least amount of responsibility on the team.  As as all down on their luck veterans do, in Film and TV, they become Armed Theives taking on big jobs with big paydays. Of course they do too much, and one guy is the wild card. 

Jeffrey Donovan, probably mostly known for USA Networks Burn Notice but hes usually a supporting character in things like Clint Eastwoods Changling and even the Sicario films, brings that calibur of performance where you wish they gave him more to do. You wish he was on screen more. You wish his motives were more than just ancillary exposition. 

Its good to see Josh Hartnett again. Much like the aforementioned Donovan, you wish we spent more time with his character. He plays the hollow tough guy who is more times than not, shaking at the sign of trouble. We dont get much about his character, but again, you would like to know more.

Also mentioned earlier, one of our characters is a Wild Card and that card is Scott Eastwood. while usually a good guy, Eastwood here channels his inner psychopath and gives us some good intensity. Unfortunately we dont get more than that. I think Maybe Guy Ritchie is going with the hide your weaknesses and accentuate your strengths. So Young Eastwoods biggest asset is intensity. But we would have liked a fight scene, or a exposition of dialog about how truly bad he is or how much he doesnt care. For what is suppose to be a looming threat over the film, kind of feels like a foot note.

This is apparently a remake to a 2004 French film called: “Le Convoyeur” or “Cash Truck” if you cant form an accent. While I like that Guy Ritchie, Jason Statham and everyone else mentioned was able to work during the pandemic, I wish maybe the powers that be had just tried releasing Cash Truck as is and maybe put together something original with the same team. 

No one in this is bad, Guy Ritchie is bringing his skill set to the table, it doesnt have bad dialog, but something is missing, or because of the pandemic, something is being restrained. This isnt as fun as 2020s The Gentleman. This doesnt have the rhythm that a Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels showcased. This isnt as pretty as 2019s Disneys Aladdin. And it isnt as clever as either of the RDJ Sherlock Holms films. I wish the best I could give this is Three Blueberries. I have not seen everything in Ritchies catalog but this is the most mediocre thing Ive seen of his.

I feel like future exhibitions will be put on loop on TNT or another superstation where youll watch it, but youre really waiting for the basketball playoffs to start.
If you want a good revenge film, I would recommend, Mel Gibsons Payback… or if you want a less controversial figure, Faster starring Dwayne The Rock Johnson, is incredibly underrated. 

Two out of Five Blueberries

Rated R for strong violence throughout, pervasive language, and some sexual references

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