The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Locked, stocked, not smoking
Ritchie, Statham serve their revenge bloody but lukewarmly with testosterone fueled ‘Wrath of Man’
Everything about “Wrath of Man” is, in fact, about as manly as imaginable. ¶ After a violent opening sequence involving the robbery of an armored truck, the theater-bound action movie — starring the incredibly manly Jason Statham — gives us a credits sequence consisting of myriad fiery images over which are displayed almost exclusively male names of everyone from the actors to the producers. ¶ Heck, the director’s first name is Guy. ¶ On his first film, 1998’s “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” Guy Ritchie gave Statham his first big-screen opportunity. Ritchie then cast Statham in his second movie, 2000’s “Snatch,” and again a few years later in “Revolver.” ¶ They’ve reunited for “Wrath of Man,” a carnage-filled revenge tale that feels more like a recent Statham flick than a Ritchie joint. While it is likely to satisfy fans of action and of the actor, it’s a bit of a clumsy effort from the director even if Ritchie is able to produce some effective moments.
We meet Statham’s Patrick Hill as he interviews for and accepts a job with Los Angeles-based Fortico Securities, the company whose armored car was robbed and the two men inside it killed.
His new colleague Bullet (Hold McCallany) is a fan of nicknames — the business is home to “Boy Sweat” Dave (Josh Hartnett) — and decides Patrick will be known as “H.”
“Like the bomb,” says Bullet, impressed with the Brit’s physical stature. “Like Jesus H.”
Yep. Got it.
H immediately clashes with Sweat Boy Dave but otherwise mostly quietly goes about his job extremely competently — surprisingly well, considering he squeaked by in the test required to get the position.
He even single-handedly thwarts the attempted robbery of a truck, terminating the would-be thieves with extreme prejudice — and tremendous efficiency.
Understandably, this makes him a hero around the office — and with Fortico’s owner (Rob Delaney) — but Bullet becomes suspicious there’s more to H than he says.
Bullet is right, of course, and “Wrath of Man” enters into a herky-jerky stretch of nonlinear storytelling to show us who he really is, what brought him to Fortico and why.
Meanwhile, we spend an increasing amount of time with a group of ex-military men who served together overseas. Frustrated by how they’ve been treated since returning to their country and a bit bored, they get into the business of robbing armored trucks.
As they were while on active duty, they’re led by the calculating Jackson (Jeffrey Donovan, “J. Edgar”), who rightly worries
about the behavior of one of his men, Jan (Scott Eastwood, “The Outpost”). (Jan is the obligatory character who, despite explicitly being instructed not to do so, spends lavishly after a big score.)
Based on the 2004 French film “Le convoyeur,” “Wrath of Man” burns down a fairly predictable path constructed by Ritchie and his co-writers, Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies.
It’s hard to see what the non-linear approach really buys them — we jump ahead three months, then back five, etc. — other than building the mystery surrounding H. Of course, the movie’s trailer is only too happy to give all of that away, sooo … .
Less stylish and more visceral than much of Ritchie’s work — which in recent years has included “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” and “The Gentlemen” — “Wrath of Man” takes violence a bit more seriously. But only a bit.
Ritchie has been better, as has Statham. Sure, the latter is believable as H
kicks butt and sometimes takes names, but the nature of the story told in “Wrath of Man” doesn’t give him a chance to flex the comedic muscles he displayed in 2019’s “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.”
Onetime leading man Hartnett (“40 Days and 40 Nights,” “Black Dahlia”) is fairly enjoyable in what ultimately is a minor role, and McCallany continues to display the type of onscreen presence that has made his “Mindhunter” character, Bill Tench, surprisingly compelling.
Yes, you will see a couple of women before “Wrath of Man” concludes, with Niamh Algar (“Raised by Wolves”) getting the most screentime as H’s coworker Dana. However, this is every bit testosterone fest the early minutes would suggest.
As that sort of thing goes, “Wrath of Man” is merely fine.
Unless your feelings revolve around exactly how pain-inducing and bloody H’s revenge should be, please leave them at home.