Revenge is so sweet in the end
JASON STATHAM IS BACK WITH A FULL REPERTOIRE OF SCOWLS, GRIMACES AND BITTER WINCES
WRATH OF MAN (MA15+)
Director: Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels)
Starring: Jason Statham, Holt McCallany, Scott Eastwood, Andy Garcia, Josh Hartnett.
Rating:
Jason not reclining, off his rocker
The best in the business at being bald, British, belligerent and barely acting at all remains the one and only Jason Statham.
The ‘Stath’ dusts off his full repertoire of scowls, grimaces and bitter winces for a most enjoyable heist flick directed by his old mate Guy Ritchie (fresh off one of his better movies in recent times with The Gentlemen).
It must be put on record that the first 30 minutes or so of Wrath Of Man are not so hot. In fact, they are borderline awful.
The interaction between the actors is incredibly stilted, and the script makes a complete hash of establishing vital facts for the viewer.
All that can be recommended to disgruntled onlookers thinking they may have done their money cold is to stay right where you are. Once everything falls into place for Wrath Of Man, the movie shifts to a higher standard, and holds it until the close.
Statham’s character goes by the name of H. For reasons that will not be given until well into the second hour of the picture, H has just taken a job with an armoured truck firm. From what little we know of H, this recent career choice seems well beneath his standing as a standover man of very ill repute.
There might be a bit – no, make that a lot – of unrequited revenge involved, but that hardly matters once this unapologetic B-movie gets busy flexing some A-grade muscle.
Despite a chaptered structure where we will be offered multiple perspectives on what has gotten H’s goat, all narrative roads head for one cracking mega-robbery climax which will put a broad, dopey smile on the faces of all action fans.
Speaking of action fans, some hardened devotees of the genre will notice some distinct similarities to a ripping French thriller titled Cash Truck. While Wrath Of Man is not a straight remake, what it has borrowed is what keeps it working as a movie.
The secondary characters here are an oddly generic bunch, with only Holt McCallany (as H’s gregarious workmate Bullet) and Scott Eastwood (as the loose cannon in a crack gang of truckjackers) getting the opportunity to register any impact alongside Statham.
The only lasting downside is that the picture lacks the selfconfident wit and snarky wordplay of Ritchie’s better works.
Wrath Of Man is now showing in general release.
FATALE (MA15+) Rating: General release
Not often you see a two-time Academy Award winner in something as decidedly downmarket as this. Fatale is a far, far cry from Hilary Swank’s heyday as a drama queen, which peaked with her punchy Best Actress Oscar performance in Million Dollar Baby. This is not to denigrate this wacky thriller, which does realise most of its limited ambitions.
A Fatal Attractionish
set-up pitches Swank as Val, a single woman who shares a onenight stand in Vegas with a seemingly single guy named Darren. Turns out her temporary boyfriend’s name is Derrick (played by Michael Ealy), and he is very much married. And how does Val come to know this? Well, she is a cop. What’s more, she just happens to be the cop assigned to investigate a home invasion and possible attempted murder. At Derrick’s house. With Derrick as the clear target. Enough coincidences for you already? If not, do not fret. There will be many, many more incredulous twists of fate before Fatale’s work is fully done.
In the meantime, Swank keeps adding all kinds of kooky ingredients to her character until Val is a fully-baked fruitcake. There is a discussion to be had as to why Val is the villain here when it is Derrick doing plenty on the dodgy side himself, but the movie isn’t going
to be participating.
TWIST (M)
General release
Run, don’t walk, from anywhere that happens to be housing this halfbaked turkey.
While not unwatchable, it is unfathomably bad considering the talent involved and the source material used.
The movie grabs that ol’ Charles Dickens chestnut Oliver Twist and stomps on it with the jackboots that seem to fit only those filmmakers who think a modern updating of anything is a good idea.
Raff Law (son of Jude) actually goes OK in the title role. Same can’t be said of a terrible Rita Ora as Dodge (a gender-flipped Artful Dodger) and an openly uninterested Michael Caine as Fagin (now a posh collectibles trader). A big no.
While not unwatchable, it is unfathomably bad considering the talent involved