“Wrath of Man” (2021)
Highly impressive revenge thriller from Guy Ritchie.
Highly impressive revenge thriller from Guy Ritchie.
With the release this year of Guy Ritchie’s thirteenth all time feature length film Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre (review linked below), it occurred to me that two films remained from this baker’s dozen of cinematic treats that I hadn’t seen. Whilst I’m of the age whereby Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch were very much de rigueur of my cinema going late twenties and I love Revolver and RocknRolla more than most and, from 2015 onward, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Aladdin and The Gentlemen became staples of my cinema going experiences with my young son, this film and Swept Away were absent from my collection.
Seeing as I’ll never watch, even on pain of death, his lovelorn collaboration with Madonna from two decades ago, it was time to watch Wrath of Man, and I can pleasingly note that it’s a rather spectacular addition to his cinematic cannon of work.
Collaborating once more for a fourth time with everyone’s favourite English action hero Jason Statham, Guy Ritchie’s twelfth film here is split over four distinct chapters entitled “A Dark Spirit”, “Scorched Earth”, “Bad Animals, Bad” and “Liver Lungs Spleen and Heart” and is a deep, dark tale of a “flat footed limey” who gains work in Los Angeles as a security guard for Fortico Security, a rolling on the road security company and money movers, “middle men” who transport $15M in cash daily around the city.
With their “dinosaur” of a truck network under attack, we are soon diving headlong into an intriguing film where nothing is as it seems, and with a backstory layered rather brilliantly as we go.
Co-written with Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies and based upon the 2004 French film “Le Convoyeur” or “Cash Truck”, Ritchie’s version is non-linear as after the opening titles and an attack on one of the outdated dinosaur trucks (with the mayhem of kill shots largely off camera) we are propelled three months forward before a further three weeks later between Acts two and three and a further five months later between Acts three and four. In between, the wariness of the American crew of security guards for their new, dry, distant and sarcastic English employee is laid bare via the excellent as ever Holt McCallany as “Bullet” (who simply can’t resist calling our action hero and new employee “H”) and Josh Hartnett as the quick talking, wise cracking and intimidating “Boy Sweat Dave” who will quickly dissolve before your very eyes. Cameos abound with Andy Garcia as the secretive FBI string puller “Agent King” and the wonderful as ever Eddie Marsan as Security Manager “Terry” amongst a huge cast list whereby they seemingly have the only human names and not crew appointed nicknames.
With a beautiful orchestral musical score (with added ominous sounding horns) from Chris Benstead and a brilliant use of a remixed version of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” over a particularly bloody and brutal torture scene, an early beer and pool scene also stands out as Jason Statham as “H” (or a variety of other monikers and aliases) is definitely not a cop as he “doesn’t smell like a cop”, but in the theme of perhaps Terminator or the detachment of Hitman, he’s very definitely an avenging angel, and he’s waited a long, long time to wreak his revenge.
Highly recommended and a high point in the cinematic work of Guy Ritchie.
Thanks for reading. Just for larks as always, and always a human reaction rather than spoilers galore. My three most recently published film articles are linked below or there’s well over 250 blog articles (with 500+ individual film reviews) within my film library from which to choose:
“Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre” (2023)
Spy thriller. Without the thrills.medium.com
“Cocaine Bear” (2023)
Fantastically surprising comedy horror.medium.com
“Missing” (2023)
Highly recommended social media whodunit.medium.com