Review of Wrath of Man (2021) by Garethvk — 14 May 2021

Director Guy Ritchie has crafted some of the best hybrids of Action and Caper films in cinematic history with “Snatch” and “Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”. His latest film “Wrath of Man” for which he also helped write; focuses on a man named H (Jason Statham) who is given the unique moniker by his trainer when he is hired to work for an Armored Transport company.

The Soft-Spoken H barely qualifies for his job based on his assessment testing, but when his shipment is hit during his initial run; he shows uncanny skills and deadly precision as he eliminated the robbers.

While this makes him a hero at work; there are those who think he actually enjoys it and is hiding something.

The film cleverly jumps a few months ahead and then backward before resuming the story as we learn more about H’s past and how he earned those skills and what is motivating the darkness inside him to strike back at all attempted robberies of his shipments with extreme prejudice.

This all leads to an interesting confrontation as various elements and factions converge to make for a complicated but action-filled finale.

The film is actually lighter on action than I expected as while there is a good amount of it at times, it is spaced out, and do not expect to see Statham using the fighting skills he has shown in “The Expendables:” “Crank” and “Transporter” series as he is happy to let his guns do the bulk of his action sequences.

The film does drag in places as while it has a solid supporting cast with Scott Eastwood, Josh Hartnett, and others, cast members such as Andy Garcia barely appear in the film, and elements of his relationship with H are missing.

H has an interesting backstory but it is never fully developed in a way that gives the audience a satisfying explanation. We know elements of who he was and why he is doing things but there are deeper questions that are left unanswered.

I also kept waiting for a big twist or the trademark humor that is associated with many of Ritchie’s films which I believe was needed to fully round out this film.

I can overlook some leaps of logic during the finale and at various points as those are necessary to make films of this type of work, but some of them just seemed like taking the easy way out and not offering even a rudimentary explanation.

In the end “Wrath of Man” lacks the sustained action that fans may expect as well as the complex and gripping plots that are the hallmark of good drama.

The film is an at times entertaining hybrid that does some things very well; just not enough of them to really make this one stand out.

3.5 stars out of 5.