WRATH OF MAN -- A Standard Guy Ritchie Tough Action Flick

Reviewed by Adam Donato

Jason Statham stars as H in director Guy Ritchie’s WRATH OF MAN, A Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film. Photo credit: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures.

Jason Statham stars as Jason Statham in Guy Ritchie’s newest feature, Wrath of Man. This time, Statham works as a driver of vans carrying ludicrous amounts of money that are often targeted for robbery. Filled with plenty of cheesy “tough guy” dialogue and generic action scenes, Ritchie is back doing what he always does. At least it’s not a bad live-action Disney remake.

The most frustrating thing is imagining how many people will go see Wrath of Man and didn’t see Nobody. The middle-aged white guy action flick genre is an ever-flowing well of mediocrity and Wrath of Man is no exception. While Nobody is still rocking at one matinee showtime a day, Wrath of Man will reign supreme at the box office as dad movies are slim pickings at the moment. It’s a safe bet of a movie for MGM, which debuted their new logo on the first teaser poster for this movie. Statham and Ritchie are known quantities and deliver the bare minimum here. 

Speaking of the bare minimum, at a certain point Statham’s character exits from the movie and the story follows a completely new set of characters for thirty minutes. All of the cool Statham scenes are in the trailer, except for the last twenty minutes. It’s not even like The Gentlemen, where the majority of the cast is full of big names. Come for the Statham, stay for Josh Hartnett, Jeffery Donovan, and Scott Eastwood. Fun fact, that trio could’ve all traded roles and the movie would be exactly the same. ​

Holt McCallany as Bullet, Jason Statham as H, Josh Hartnett as Boy Sweat Dave, and Rocci Williams as Hollow Bob in director Guy Ritchie’s WRATH OF MAN, A Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film. Photo credit: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures.

Wrath of Man is an American remake of a French film called Le Convoyeur. (This is one of the few Ritchie movies to be set in America, by the way.) The original was met with mixed reviews from audiences. Expect the remake to receive a similar reception as it’s generally entertaining and satisfying enough. At the very least, the run time clocks in just under two hours. It’s hard to imagine Ritchie did much improvement upon the original. That is unless the original also has the main character say the word “poo-poo”. The timeline is confusing and the amount of toxic masculinity is through the roof. 

This Mother’s Day weekend, please do your mother a favor and do not take her to the theater to see Wrath of Man. It’s good enough to pass, but that’s what makes it even more frustrating. Statham became a parody of himself in Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw and is due for a reinvention. Wrath of Man is like if someone got an AI to write a Ritchie movie starring Statham. If that’s your bag, more power to you. Can’t say there weren't a bunch of tough guys shooting each other. 

Wrath of Man hits theaters on May 7.

Rating: 3/5