REVIEW: Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie Reunite for Revenge in Wrath of Man
After 15 years, Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham are back in an all new action movie that is less on the action and more on pure revenge. Based upon the film: “Le Convoyeur”, written by Nicolas Boukhrief and Éric Besnard, Ritchie’s Wrath of Man follows H (Stratham), a newcomer to the cash truck security guard industry who shocks his coworkers when he stops a group of armed gunmen from killing him and acquiring the money from his truck. Although H’s intentions seem pure at the beginning, viewers come to find out that H has an ulterior motive behind his actions.
Wrath Of Man is a little confusing to follow. Ritchie’s layout for the story, which was a continuous intermix of flashbacks scenes and current events, was a little overwhelming at points and takes viewers a moment to catch up. Yes, this choice allows for viewers to learn a bit more about all the players in the game, but at some points your mind is still trying to process whether or not the scene is a flashback or not and you miss key dialogue. Overall though, the story is pretty straight forward. Viewers are never confused about why H is doing what he is doing nor why the bad guys are doing what they’re doing. This movie doesn’t overthink itself or try to be anything more than just a simple revenge movie.
The music Ritchie and composer, Christopher Benstead, chose for this movie was extremely simple, but it worked. The same tune can be heard throughout the entire movie, with some minor changes here and there, but it never got tiresome, it actually helped elevate the scenes. It added another layer to what could have been a pretty boring movie.
Fans are typically use to seeing Stratham kick butt and take names in all of his movies, but this movie featured less physical fighting from the action star, no ostentatious dialouge, and more gun fighting. Which may be a hit or a miss for Stratham fans. In all honesty, I was waiting for him to lay the smackdown in a number of scenes and was let down when he didn’t. It seemed like his sole focus in this movie was to remain stoic from start to finish, which he managed to do with ease, but is a disappointment because Stratham is a wonderful actor to watch in these types of films.
Josh Hartnett stars as Boy Sweat Dave and is utilized as merely just a person to add some dialogue to the movie. Holt McCallany (Bullet) and Jeffrey Donovan (Jackson) provide a majority of the dialogue in the movie, while Scott Eastwood’s Jan made for an unusual villain. Mainly because his character was never truly fleshed out.
Wrath of Man is no nail biter, nor will it have you on the edge of your seat. It is a pure revenge movie with no flair. If you are into gun fights and little dialogue, this movie is for you. For those looking for fun action scenes and Stratham kicking butt, I would recommend waiting for this to be released On Demand and checking out another Stratham movie this weekend.
Source: C+