Wrath Of Man

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Wrath Of Man follows H, an enigmatic individual who joins a cash truck security business in an effort to track down the thieves who were responsible for the murder of his son. This film takes a long time to reveal what it is, and even then not all of those pieces go very well together. In saying that the film really comes alive the further and further you get to peer behind the veil and see the truth behind some of the characters. The flashback scenes in which we get to see H as the head of a criminal empire, with connections so widespread that he can go through town torturing and killing in a bid to extract information, is remarkably well done. It's a serious tonal shift where the action feels very real and grounded, rather than a one man army against the baddies. The power H wields to get what he desires is the power of fear, and it is a really intimidating batch of scenes. The final act of the film holds the audience pretty well too, with an intricate and violent heist being laid out that is contrasted severely by the real time events being performed. The cinematography for the film is very driven towards intensity, there are big dramatic shots that track fast with the action to craft excellent action sequences.

 

Holt McCallany, who played Bullet, had to chew through some peculiar dialogue but made great work with what he was given; McCallany had a soft sense of machismo while employing a copious amount of charisma making him a likeable mentor/leader figure. Jeffrey Donovan, who played Jackson, was great as the leader of the antagonistic heist group; Donovan's role felt intelligent and remarkably adept at profiling and handling a high stakes confrontation like the ones he created. Scott Eastwood, who played Jan, was like a wild animal amongst the cast in the best way possible; Eastwood's role was a dark killer with little interest in the rules and all-consuming greed that ultimately becomes his downfall. Darrell D'Silva, who played Mike, steals the show for me as Statham's right hand man throughout the feature; D'Silva is quietly aggressive and has a mild manner towards bringing the hammer down hard on behalf of his boss which really makes the character all the more fascinating.

 

However, the best performance came from Jason Statham, who played H. This central role was interesting to watch because while he was initially quite deferring and courteous, there was an intensity about him that promised something more. In this manner Statham built up a role who was an intriguing enigma, some one you were waiting to see become fully unleashed. As the first act progressed this was swiftly satisfied with H proving to be an efficient marksman and smooth liar. Statham inhabits a role who can unveil menace with a glance, shifting the entire tone of a scene. Once h is unveiled to be a crime boss the smooth if not aggressive operator he truly is comes to light and the action becomes all the more gripping. I really enjoyed watching Statham present a dark, yet strangely moral, take on the pound for a pound theme.

This is a very disjointed film to watch from a storytelling perspective, the layout is really messy and it doesn't do a great job exploring different characters or story angles. For instance, the first act of the film is really dull to watch and takes the premise of setting the story to a slow extreme. We watch H steadily gain himself employment with the armour truck company, get chummy with his fellow staff and conduct several days of business. It's not engaging stuff and the dialogue is so bizarre that it rarely feels like you have characters speaking in a very grounded way at all. By the time we hit the first action scene it would be fair to say the audience is bored and not really surprised by H's obvious display of skill at firing a gun, in fact none of the twists of the film will shock the average movie-goer much. Then the second act tilts things in a nutty way, H is a crime boss who is daylighting as an armoured truck driver. That's some sabbatical! The film just never justifies someone with the power H wields needing to squirrel down solo to take out those who wronged him. More than this, H seems to randomly have the backing of the FBI; a connection that is never expressly explored. As the second act begins to wrap we are very lately introduced to the heist team that has been targetting armoured cars, antagonists who suddenly get a lot of screen time despite the film almost being over. This influx of a whole crew of new characters came across as rushed and their heist plan being narrated while failing in real-time was a pretty played out trope. The editing for the film struggled to cut precisely, sometimes lingering on a shot for longer than was needed or ruining the flow of a sequence with an awkward sudden cut. The score for the film was the same disquieting drone over the entire thing, it was so starkly repetitive that it lost impact pretty early on.

Josh Hartnett, who played Boy Sweat Dave, is such a weak-willed character that it becomes hard to picture him as an armoured car driver; Hartnett's attempts to craft boyish rivalry with Statham's character fall flat and make for a dull sub-plot. Andy Garcia, who played Agent King, is a character who is as confusing as he is unnecessary; Garcia tries to be this enigmatic powerful force in the film but that comes across as counter-intuitive given we never really come to know him as a character. Eddie Marsan and Rob Delaney, who played Terry and Boss Blake Halls respectively, are very odd pair who don't gel well into the tone of this film; Marsan is a little too straight-edged and dull while Delaney's natural tendency towards comedy is lost in such a gritty feature. Niamh Algar, who played Dana, is boxed into this stereotypical hotshot tomboy character; Algar really dials up her role's 'macho' streak a ludicrous amount that it becomes the defining trait of her character. Eli Brown, who played Dougie, is by no means a good fit to play Statham's son; the pair are an odd contrast that don't fit well together onscreen.

I've never really been disappointed by a Guy Ritchie film...until now. I would give Wrath Of Man a 6/10.