Wrath Of Man

Wrath Of Man

The transformation of Jason Statham, from wheeler dealer, to swimmer, then model and eventually to a movie star, owes a vast amount to writer-director Guy Ritchie who ‘catapulted’ him from a French connection campaign into his first two films. Subsequent appearances in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and later in Snatch opened a door to an improbable, but very solid career for which he was a throw-back action antihero punching, shooting and banging away at DTV shit all the way to top box office franchises.

At the same time, Ritchie made a similar change, going from gig that made him and instead making studio tentpoles like The Man from Uncle, King Arthur, Sherlock Holms, two boys done good, at least in terms of their pockets.

However, the concurrent parties was attended by fast-paced vertical climbs and their costs. Statham’s pretentiousness, which on occasion has been rather ingeniously ridiculed for laugh (as in Spy), became tiresome when exposition expanded (as in The Meg), while Ritchie’s desire from one project to another getting bigger with time had become for the worse with the last straw being his downright boring Aladdin that inevitably got directed by a certain someone and became vague.

His next wipe, 2020’s rather incoherent comedy The Gentlemen, aimed to disguise absent vulnerabilities through practical approaches he didn’t possess back in the day, and a similar unity of roughness and polish, that definitely doesn’t expire with timidity, is present in his new project, euphorically titled Wrath of Man, which again stars Stath, yet another actor that in my opinion lacks sophisticated command.

This is a perfect opportune moment for the two of them to work together once again. Worn out in a sense yet rejuvenated, the film stands out as a reset for both of them, more purposefully a B-grade flick who can be expected to continue the wave of successful B-grade oriented films that have helped American cinema get back on its feet in the past month. Godzilla vs Kong and Mortal Kombat have been exciting Whys, irrespective of the fun factor because they have made it abundantly clear that people are always ready to swarm back in numbers as long as there is something worthy out there.

In the same breath, there were many who were looking forward to hearing a resounding applause when Wrath of Man was released, an action packed film which is bound to please a lot of fans as they would really appreciate how an actual film should look like after suffering countless boring and bland streaming movies especially in the action film sector.

This is an adaptation of the 2004 French flick Cash Truck. The plot is straightforward, but is presented in such a disorganized fashion it seems like a Liam Neeson thriller but the script was written by Quentin Tarantino. A new recruit who only goes by the letter H, played by Statham, is introduced to an armed vehicle company, a legitimate cash and valuables transport firm, where he is soon warned he will be more the hunted than the hunter.

However, after H foils an attempted robbery and kills all of the aggressors, it becomes clear why he is on the job. H has suffered a loss and he has a vendetta to pursue. He is an illicit angel who is on a blood-pumping, determined journey to locate a gunman who took away his sons life, and soon his wrath will be unleashed upon California’s streets.

Although the film boasts a biblical name, has a running time of about two hours and features bizarre and aspirational chapter names, Wrath of Man is actually quite ordinary if not dull, as compared to what Ritchie imagines. It is quite similar to various other post-Taken action flicks that came out in January, in this situation having been slated originally for that release date, it is big, bloody, and blunt and in giving the audience what they want, it quickly goes away.

The picture is a simple tale of a father avenging the enemies of his family, and such narratives have been witnessed countless times but this one seems to do something a bit better. It feels like an ordinary revenge story but the best part is that it does not look puffed up. Most of the time, Ritchie chooses not to insert any humorous elements knowing fully well that the horror of everything unfolding is enough, which is complemented by a diabetic score from Christopher Benstead and chilling sound design from Jimmy Boyle.

Stathan is more contained in his acts which is quick and violent in a satisfying way but one wonders how the role of the heartbroken parent would have been enhanced by a more convincing actor who would have angled to insert emotions in various forms rather than just a fearsome glare. As a Brit, he’s spared the indignity of putting on an American accent but everyone that Ritchie brackets him with utters American accents so the more active and speech driven sequences feel quite surreal.

I was reminded of that quote from The Thing when Russell’s character speculates what will happen if a man is left interacting with people who only mimic him and thus becomes a native actor best describes how the actors must have felt during some times of the production. It is somewhat out of place and helps the movie’s disenchantment and feeling loses to director Nolans film which is even a shocking departure from the worst portrayal of Scott Eastwood as the antagonist in this movie who waltzed in having none of the finesse that a daytime television actor possesses when he first steps on set.

Although it is never particularly boring, it however, feels a bit elongated perhaps with one too many flashbacks for the simple narrative that it presents itself as – this is not the overly complicated thriller it wishes it was, shedding light on many aspects but then offering an ending which misses an important point of logistics, which is a bit too much.

Nevertheless, Ritchie generally has style in how he shifts around this rather crude assortment of Parts and how he does it demonstrates his extraordinary ability to feature vicious conflicts and it is a cinematically elegant and muscular B-movie that looks best on a theater screen and is another energizing shot, for us and the industry. Up next, tell me.

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