By Lady Beverly Cohn
Husbands seeking revenge for the murder of their families is a familiar cinematic genre. Some of those films include Death Wish, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Mad Max, and Memento. Currently, there is a continuation of that theme with one of the latest being Without Remorse, starring Michael B. Jordan, whose wife and unborn baby are killed.
On the small screen, Christopher Meloni seeks revenge for the murder of his wife in the “Law & Order: Organized Crime” spinoff. Continuing that cinematic theme comes Wrath of Man, starring super hero/antihero Jason Statham, whose family member was murdered during an armed robbery. Dad sustained life-threatening wounds but when he comes out of his coma, he embarks on a quest to find the killer. How he achieves his revenge is what makes Wrath of Man a particularly interesting tale.
The screenplay by director Guy Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson, Nicolas Boukhrief, and Marn Davies is based on the film Le Convoyeur written by director Nicolas Boukhrief, and Éric Besnard.
The story begins with a sweeping city shot by cinematographer Alan Stewart, whose camera hones in on the action, dramatically underscored by Christopher Benstead’s pulsating music. In a daring day-time robbery, a big rig blocks an intersection forcing a Fortico cash truck to stop. Two guards are killed and the gunmen get away with the loot.
The scene segues to Statham’s character of Patrick Hill applying for a security job at Fortico. He is being interviewed by Bullet, nicely played by Holt McCallany. The personnel all have code names and “H” is bestowed upon this new recruit who is then put through a rigorous training program, barely passing the shooting test. His quiet arrogance and unfriendliness doesn’t win him approval from the team.
One particularly hostile employee is Sticky Fingers, well characterized by Cameron Jack. He takes an immediate dislike to “H” because he is his replacement. Bullet invites the new guy to join everyone for a game of pool at a local bar. Sticky Fingers tries to antagonize “H” by calling him Mary Poppins. That attempt backfires and he is embarrassingly dismissed out of hand. “H” is given his first assignment on a cash truck containing $10,000, but when they arrive at the bank, a robbery of another cash truck is in progress.
His partner, Boy Sweat Dave, well played by Josh Hartnett, loses it and wants to drive away, which is the protocol, but “H” has other ideas. One of the robbers holds Bullet as hostage and issues orders on where to drive the truck. “H” complies but instead of turning the money over, there’s a big shoot out with our hero killing all the bad guys, which immediately gains him respect from the crew.
However, there are questions as to who this guy really is and how he honed his shooting skills. Manager Terri, sympathetically played by wonderful Eddie Marsan, is concerned about “H’s” mental health after this shoot-out and suggests he take some time off. “H” answers, “What for?” I was doing the job you hired me for.” The plot begins to thicken as FBI Agent King, played by awesome Andy Garcia, has a brief phone conversation with Hill. Who the heck is he and why is the FBI involved? Agents Okey (Jason Wong) and Hubbard (Josh Cowdery) are the other two “suits” on the case and voice concern about Hill’s methods.
King tells them that their operative gets carte blanche in his pursuit of the gang behind the cash truck heists. So, there is a duality to “H’s” motives. In one shocking moment, during a potential heist, our hero gets out of the truck and removes his mask. One of the robbers looks at his face and makes a hasty retreat. Just who is that unmasked man?
We soon learn “H’s” real motivation for taking this job. What started out as a father-son outing, ended with the craven killing of his son Dougie during another heist. Dad suffered from multiple gunshot wounds, but after being unconscious for three weeks, he recovers. Look out you villains, he’s coming after you. Needless to say, there are some gory torture scenes at the behest of the gang’s ringleader Jackson, played by Jeffrey Donovan who endows his character with cold, deadly precision. His team is made up of special ops veterans who served in Afghanistan so each heist is planned and executed as a military mission.
We soon get a picture of who shot Dougie. It was psycho, Jan, played by Scott Eastwood. Unlike the supporting cast, who give creditable performances, I didn’t find his characterization believable. It was forced and in acting parlance, he “indicated” emotions, which means no real inner life supporting the external action, resulting in a shallow performance.
As far as his looks and voice, yes, he’s a dead ringer for dad and delicious eye candy, but perhaps he should seek acting technique advice from Clint. The tension mounts as the mother of all robberies is planned by Jackson to take place on Black Friday when there will be approximately $150 million in cash at the Fortico facility. Ritchie’s razor-sharp direction presents a fascinating visual of how that plan will be executed, moving back and forth from planning stages to the actual execution. There is a surprising traitor involved so watch the film to see how that plays out and how “H” achieves his revenge.
With his understated, almost monotone, stone-face delivery, Statham gives a powerful, riveting performance. His control of his character is grounded and methodical, with a strong subtext. He maintains the same unemotional demeanor, whether eating a sandwich or pumping bullets into criminals. Generally, I don’t care for ultra-violent films but there is something about Statham’s character that has you rooting for him. With its fascinating storyline, excellent direction, and talented supporting cast, Wrath of Man is an entertaining, action-packed roller coaster ride.
Metro-Goldwyn Pictures
Distributor: United Artists Releasing
Release Date: Current
Where: In Select Theatres
Language: English
Music includes Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison”
Running Time: 119 Minutes
Rating: R – Strong Violence Throughout, Pervasive Language, & Sexual References