REVIEW: Wrath of Man (2021)

Movie Reviews

Wrath of Man is the first movie I saw in a theater since the lockdowns began – a locally owned theater near me isn’t participating in this “wear masks through the movie” nonsense – and I chose it especially because I wanted a fun action flick with Jason Statham wreaking unholy vengeance on the forces of evil. I got something mostly different from what I was expecting, and it turned out to be the perfect film on which to return to the cinema. Wrath of Man surprised me, made me think, challenged my preconceptions of who almost every character was, and made it clearer than ever what a massive hole the loss of the movies has created during society’s big pause.

(Funnily enough, the last movie I saw theatrically before the lockdowns and the first one I saw coming back were both directed by Guy Ritchie, a director towards whom I’m mostly ambivalent.)

On a sunny day in Los Angeles, a British expatriate named Patrick Hill strolls into the offices of an armored car service and applies for a job. He barely meets the physical requirements and lands the job, earning the nickname “H” from his new colleagues. But when a heavily armed crew tries to hijack his truck, H’s response indicates he’s much more than what he lets on, and his employers and fellow guards are divided over whether to love or fear him.

If that synopsis sounds barebones, it’s because there’s a lot going on in Wrath of Man, and I don’t want to reveal any of it. I assumed the trailer gave away the whole plot when I first saw it, but I was gratifyingly wrong. The opening half-hour or so uses H’s orientation and probationary period to teach the audience how armored car services work, down to details like how both the driver and his partner must identify themselves into the security camera before security will let them into the depot. H learns these things as he goes along, so it doesn’t feel like a ton of exposition just for the audience’s sake, even though it mostly is. Once the action starts, it’s clear we don’t know everything, but the beauty of this film is that no one knows everything, and the way Guy Ritchie parcels out the plot, we’re ahead of some characters and behind others.

The filmmaking has a lot to do with the storytelling’s success. Wrath of Man is not a linear movie; it jumps backward and forward in time, it leaves key players behind for lengthy stretches, and it shows certain events several times, from different perspectives. The fractured narrative keeps it from becoming dull, and it allows our questions to be answered in due time rather than immediately, maintaining an air of mystery until almost the very end. And, just as importantly, it isn’t confusing; you always know where you are in the story so you can stay engaged.

And the camera work is just as meticulously prepared. Ritchie has some showy visuals in Wrath of Man, but they’re different from his usual hyper-to-slow-motion barrages. Here, he films from unexpected vantage points, showing exactly the information he wants to reveal in a given scene while hiding some secrets for later. The opening heist is a perfect example; who you can see and who you can’t are vitally important. Even little moments that seem inconsequential and needless prove their worth eventually, as do all the camera angles in which they’re filmed. This may be the most mature work I’ve seen from Ritchie, and I think it’s his strongest for its lack of flair. (To be fair, I never sat through Swept Away.) The score could have been a bit stronger, though. It’s okay, and it effectively envelopes the film in a sense of dread, but it’s also monotonous and repetitive, and it gets old fast.

Supported by the story and the filmmaking of Wrath of Man is an assortment of characters that are much more complex and interesting than I imagine you’re expecting. Jason Statham is perfect for H because of his well-known screen persona; he’s a man’s man, the strong, silent type, and both he and H make good use of that. Statham underplays the part expertly, saying all he needs with a grunt or a glare and delivering the occasional line – usually some kind of insult – with as much bite as needed. It isn’t all just the masculine toughness either; there’s a scene where he sits still as someone berates him, and his silence is the perfect summation of what he’s feeling, more powerful than any hastily-typed bit of dialogue could have been. (In another nod to the excellent filmmaking in Wrath of Man, this scene has incredible lighting; Statham’s accuser is bathed in daylight while he is concealed in darkness.) As a personal preference, I would have liked some more hand-to-hand combat instead of all the shooting because it’s where Statham is at his most fun, but it’s not the movie’s fault that I want my candy.

The rest of the cast is hit and miss. H’s co-workers are a bunch of Alpha male types – and one woman with the personality of an Alpha male, which has a fun, subtle couple of payoffs – and they are in turns put off and intrigued by the manliness of their new recruit. Wrath of Man’s biggest weakness comes in some of these scenes, as the jocular camaraderie among the guards is overdone in a lot of places. Some of it feels real, and there are a few good lines – most of them Statham’s – but it gets overbearing after a while, like the writers thought everyone should have something clever to say at all times but ran out of clever things to have them say. Other characters become important as well, but Wrath of Man will work better if you don’t know who they are. The performances are a mixed bag; Andy Garcia, Darrell D’Sylva, and Babs Olusanmokun are all quite effective, while Josh Hartnett, Scott Eastwood, and some of the lesser guards are overdone and a little grating. The rest are adequate, but nothing special; Jeffrey Donovan, Holt McCallany, and Niamh Algar are all fine, but almost anyone else would have been just as suitable.

Wrath of Man is a tripwire of a film, drawing you in with the promise of some fun action and knocking you over with a complex crime story with multifaceted characters and a Swiss watch of a plot. The camerawork is striking without being over-stylized, and while some of the acting and dialogue is lacking and the score gets boring after the same few notes repeat for the ninetieth time, it’s a gripping movie that manages to challenge and entertain you.