ReelBob: ‘Wrath of Man’ ★★★

By Bob Bloom

Jason Statham scowls and shoots his way through the bloody revenge thriller “Wrath of Man,” directed by Guy Ritchie.

The movie features Ritchie’s usual proclivity for a nonlinear narrative and repeating sequences from various perspectives.

The manner in which “Wrath of Man” unfolds is more interesting than its generic plot and characters. At just a tick under two hours, the movie builds suspense with no let up, while you try to unravel it all.

Statham portrays H, who takes a job as a security guard for a cash truck company. He is enigmatic and basically unfriendly toward his new coworkers, who are rather unimpressed by his demeanor.

All that changes when H single-handedly displays lethal skills during an attempted robbery of the first truck he is guarding. He earns a newfound respect among the other workers.

Ritchie provides a nice group of character actors to serve as decoys and red herrings, as H stops as nothing to discover who is behind a tragedy that upended his world.

Statham puts aside the quips and bits of humor he has brought to recent roles, especially in the “Fast and Furious” franchise features. He is all no-nonsense business in “Wrath of Man” — and God help anyone — man or woman — who gets in his way.

He is ruthless, cold, determined and single-minded. Yet, he seems to have a code of his own that allows him some rare displays of humanity.

Ritchie and his cowriters spend little time offering specifics on H and the other characters. We learn that H has a criminal empire of his own, and when his underlings can’t get the answers he seeks, he takes matters into his own hand.

Basically, he goes undercover at the truck company to uncover an inside man who must be tipping off the heist crew.

If you are well-versed in genre formulae of this sort, the guilty party becomes obvious rather quickly.

“Wrath of Man” has some plot holes that you quickly gloss over as you impatiently anticipate H’s next move.

The movie is not as frenetic as most of Ritchie’s works. It seems more serious and focused.

A heavy, pounding score by Christopher Benstead abets Ritchie’s vision.

The cast features Holt McCallany, Josh Harnett, Jeffery Donovan, Scott Eastwood, Eddie Marsan and, in what amounts to a cameo, Andy Garcia.

Bodies fall like 10 pins at a bowling tournament as what seems like thousands of bullets splatter everyone in sight, especially during the movie’s climactic robbery where Ritchie revs the film to full throttle.

“Wrath of Man” is an action-packed diversion, an escapist combination of caper and vengeance that doesn’t let up from beginning to end.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

WRATH OF MAN
3 stars out of 4
(R), graphic violence, language, sexual references