Out in theaters this week (feels good to type that friends) is a new revenge tale from the director of Aladdin (2019). Sorry is that not how Guy Ritchie wanted to be introduced for the rest of time? Anyway, Statham and Ritchie are together again with Wrath of Man and two of our critics got to take an early peek. Take it away fellas.
Back in the Saddle (Again)
T: So uh, how is your first Guy Ritchie flick since the pandemic started?
C: Bold of you to assume I didn’t rail The Gentlemen 14 times during quarantine last year. But also correct. And 10 points to Guy for back-to-back years with a movie. Some real Woody Allen stuff out of the Guy that released a couple fun gritty flicks early and then siesta’d until Sherlock Holmes came calling.
T: Guess I should have clarified, first Guy Ritchie flick *released since the pandemic started. Can you believe The Gentleman came out before everything closed down? And while I can give props to Ritchie for the back-to-back release streak, maybe this proves they can’t all be Lock, Stock, and Smoking Barrel or Snatch.
C: They can’t. My overall vibe from Wrath of Man was someone directing in the style of Guy Ritchie, working from a hectic Guy Ritchie storyboard, but without the warm character connectivity Guy Ritchie normally finds with his camera.
T: That’s a good way to put it for sure. When I saw the first trailer a couple months back, I was confused at how I hadn’t heard about Wrath of Man. Now, after a little digging, I saw a portion of why it felt so oddly un-Ritchie. This is an English-language remake of a 2004 French film Le Convoyeur. That translates simply to “Cash Truck,” and the title is about as simple as the premise. I’m not sure if it was Ritchie trying to be true to the original or just adapting something so he could quickly film in LA during COVID, but it shows.
Sir, What About the Plot?
C: Obligatory plot recap portion of the review: There is in fact a cash truck. Chronologically, Jason Statham plays a crime boss who had tragedy happen in his life. He joins a cash truck security team to find the men responsible. Spoiler alert, he does. Basic as the plot is, it is a little fun to see it unfold and piece together.
T: The plot leaves much to be desired and the writing is a little rough. There are such memorable lines as “did you make a poopie?” and “is your diaper still clean?” Then there are the military battalion-isms and tropiest of tropes. What I will say is, for better or for worse, Wrath of Man feels like a movie put out during a worldwide pandemic. That said, it wasn’t a Skype call they pitched as a movie, this is a feature-length movie with a sizable budget and all the gunpowder and explosions to show for it.
C: It’s a team of ex-pats that are kind of the bad guys toward the end of the film and they all have numerical designations. So most of the dialog is dudes screaming “NUMBER ONE, NUMBER TWO, WHERE IS NUMBER THREE?” and I couldn’t get Codename: Kids Next Door out of my head during the final confrontation.
How did we get here?
T: I don’t wanna go down the production history rabbit hole, but …
C: Wait. Do do. It will probably be more interesting than anything critical I have to say about the movie that we got..
T: Let’s just say that at one point Sandra Bullock was tapped for a role in it. This has been on the reproduction block pretty much since 2004. And what I find so funny is, I saw a version along the same lines in 2009’s Armored with Lawrence Fishbourne, Jean Reno, Matt Dillon, and an ensemble of buff bois with bullets and it wasn’t amazing. My expectations for Wrath of Man were low, and for an action-flick on the couch, it delivers the action. And some of the ensemble casting we love in a good action movie.
C: These stripped down mono-e-mono revenge stories can be some of my favorite stuff when it’s done well though and on paper the team putting this together seems like it could be that kind of hit. But it wasn’t and I put a lot of the blame on the second mono. These movies work when it’s two equals dancing their way through the movie on an unavoidable final collision course. Actual spoiler, but the man Statham is seeking his revenge from is played by Scott Eastwood, and his character was an idiot AND didn’t even know Statham was trying to revenge him. Like he very well could have “I don’t even know who you are’d” at Statham at the end. But he didn’t because the filmmakers didn’t give him any power whatsoever, making it anticlimactic.
T: That’s the word I think sums up much of Wrath of Man: anticlimactic. The reveals, the firefights, the climax, they just fall flat.
Screen Size and Theater Seats
C: The movie industry isn’t totally back back yet so we each screened this individually on our laptops in our homes instead of in a theater with people. The biggest indictment I can hurl at a movie that seems like it should have scope is that it worked totally fine on a small screen. I missed the Dolby sound and 50 foot projection when watching Godzilla vs. Kong on HBO Max. I didn’t care while watching Wrath of Man.
T: There were lots of reasons not to care, but the theater experience is lacking. If I had a massive bucket of popcorn with 80 other people, maybe I’d have enjoyed this even more. Even then, the plot, the characters, the storytelling all can be punched up. I’m not saying everything has to be the greatest. I’ll give this movie its due, it wrapped filming in January of 2020. I cannot imagine editing a movie like this remotely. Yet, if you see Wrath of Man sold as “a film from Guy Ritchie,” there’s a certain expectation there of what you’re getting. It’s what puts butts in seats, or in this day and age, butts on couches to stream it. When that experience is less than what you’re paying for, you can feel cheated that you didn’t watch a similar caliber movie on Netflix for free instead. Whether audiences head to a theater or head to their lazy boy, they want to see the value of those extra dollars.
Final Thoughts
C: Can you muster up one more good thing to say about Wrath of Man before we wrap?
T: Look, if you want to see Jason Statham shooting em up and you have a free night, enjoy a little Wrath of Man. Keep your expectation low and your popcorn nearby, and you are going to enjoy the cheesy dialogue and flying bullets equally. It is receiving good reviews (4 Stars from Roger Ebert), so don’t let our review dissuade you.
C: My favorite scene was a merciless revenge montage set to some Johnny Cash. It felt specific and stylized, if not a little teaser-trailer-y. And then while getting this article up I actually watched the trailer and sure enough, they use the same song. So if you click play on the YouTube clip below, you’ve seen the movie.
Wrath of Man directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Jason Statham and Scott Eastwood is in theaters May 6.
Find a showtime near you!
Want to to watch the original French film, Le Conveyor? Check it out on Canal Plus here.
Check out more of our 2021 reviews here, and more from Cole and Tristan while you’re here.