Jason Statham in Wrath of Man. Courtesy of United Artists Releasing.
Wrath of Man comes really close to being the loud dumb revenge action movie you want it to be. And even if it doesn’t get completely there, Jason Statham’s classic hero performance and the twisty plot keep you in the vault.
The best loud dumb action movies are the ones that realize they’re a loud dumb action movie. John Wick fueled three movies with its tongue-in-cheek approach to presenting its characters and story — and of course, some incredible action choreography. The moment I discovered Wrath of Man had the same realization is when Terry (Eddie Marsan) says about Jason Statham’s H, “I’m starting to think he’s a psychopath.”
Admittedly, Wrath of Man is nowhere near as subversive or innovative as the John Wick series. However, it does evoke a lot of the same feelings. In the genuinely thrilling opening scene, that we’ll see litigated several times throughout the film, two armed truck guards are driving the vehicle out of the holding facility to make a drop. From the inside of the truck in a single shot, we see them blocked by a cement truck and forced out as the robbers cut their way inside. We hear three gunshots before cutting to black.
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We’re then introduced to Patrick Hill (Statham) as he goes through the interview and vetting process to join a cash truck company responsible for moving hundreds of millions of dollars around Los Angeles each week. His supervisor Bullet (Holt McCallany) dubs him as “H” and shows him the ropes. H is proficient, but not perfect. In fact, he scores a 70 on all the assessments, just enough to pass. Little do his coworkers know, H has a secret agenda to joining the company which becomes clear when a job he’s on is the target of a robbery — the robbers include rapper Post Malone. H singlehandedly takes down every single assailant — and his warpath isn’t over.
Eventually, Wrath of Man reveals itself as a revenge movie through a series of flashbacks that are as thrilling as the movie’s first third. Though the action is more subdued, Statham’s stone-faced assassin character leaves you leaning into the screen. Director Guy Ritchie lets the world unfold before your eyes without explaining every single detail giving you time to be enveloped by the story and never giving you a moment to rest. Wrath of Man is a surprising success because it doesn’t necessarily do anything new. Statham is playing the exact character he’s known for playing — he even parodied it in Paul Feig’s Spy. However, Ritchie is a master at tone knowing exactly when to lean into action, drama, or the satirical elements of the story. Wrath of Man is a lean 120 minutes of pure fun that’ll even have you chuckling here and there.
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Hey! I’m Karl. You can find me on Twitter here. I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic.
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