Wrath of Man

Summary

Guy Ritchie burst onto the film scene in the late Nineties with the fantastic Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. The films were marked by their wonderful stylistic choices by Ritchie and fantastic soundtracks. The writing by Ritchie for both of those films infused an excellent sense of humor with an understanding of British crime and heist films that goes back to films like The Long Good Friday and Get Carter. Snatch blew me away when I first saw it, and it is a movie that I have revisited numerous times and still find fresh and exciting. Ritchie followed up those films with Swept Away, Rock N’ Rolla, and a couple Sherlock Holmes films, but I had not kept up with him as much since he moved away from his crime films. Luckily, in the last couple years, Ritchie has returned to that genre with his films The Gentleman and Wrath of Man. Wrath of Man is based upon a French film named Le Convoyeur. Ritchie adapted the screenplay with the help of Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies. It features some comedic dialogue like Ritchie’s earlier films, but it is a more somber and dramatic piece than those films. Wrath of Man is a well written revenge film that allows Ritchie to lean in with his understanding of action cinema direction and also allows him to draw one of the finest performances by actor Jason Statham in recent years. Jason Statham was introduced to the world in Ritchie’s earliest films, and Ritchie knows exactly how to use the actor to his best strengths. 

As the film begins, an armored car is held up by a heavily armed group of robbers dressed as construction workers. The heist spirals out of control and in action that takes place off screen the two guards and an onlooker are killed by one of the assailants. Five months later, Patrick Hill (Jason Statham) applies for a job at Fortico Security. Patrick comes well recommended from an elite security company in the UK and his background check goes well. If anything, Patrick seems overqualified for the job. Patrick is introduced by Terry (Eddie Marsan) to the gregarious Bullet (Holt McCallany) and the edgier Boy Sweat Dave (Josh Hartnett.) Bullet runs Patrick through the paces and Patrick just barely qualifies for the job, with almost exactly the lowest score needed to land the job. Bullet dubs Patrick with the nickname “H” and he is assigned to ride with Boy Sweat Dave and him.They tell him about the recent stickup where two guards were killed and H listens intently. On a training run, Bullet is held hostage. Protocol calls for H and Boy Sweat Dave to drive off and leave Bullet behind. H proceeds to systematically kill every single assailant (including a memorable cameo from Post Malone.) His accuracy with his weapon is essentially perfect. The men inside Fortico begin to ask why H had scored middling results in his prior run. One of the heads of the company promotes H for his display of valor. Police investigators question H about the robbery and show him security footage of the prior robbery. They ask if he thinks the two robberies are connected and he explains that he thinks they are not connected. They release H back to Terry. The officers report to FBI Agent King and identify H as someone the bureau has been seeking for 25 years. Agent King tells them to leave H alone and “let the painter paint.” A couple months later, when H’s truck is held up on another route, the men that hold him up flee when they see H walk out the back of the armored truck. Who is H? What is his actual purpose of joining Fortico? The film unfolds a story of revenge that is told through episodic vignettes that converge for the finale.

I really enjoyed Wrath of Man. It’s a shame that this film was released in such a tumultuous year for film going, because it is a strong and visceral film that deserved strong theatrical exhibition. Luckily, the film still grossed about $100 million dollars worldwide, which can probably be attributed to strong word of mouth from those who actually went to catch the film. I don’t think I have seen a Guy Ritchie film that I enjoyed this much since Snatch. Unlike his early pictures, Ritchie is primarily focused here on telling a fairly straight forward story as astutely as possible. There are not as many characters to follow or subplots. The film is squarely focused on H’s quest for revenge, and the team of military veteran robbers (led by Jeffrey Donovan and Scott Eastwood) that caused the chain of events that started the film off. At under two hours runtime, Wrath of Man does not waste much time. It’s a thrilling action film that allows the audience to have questions for about half of the running time of the film. I respect that. It’s intelligently written and expects the audience to be intelligent. Ritchie uses his visual flair in the extremely well choreographed action sequences without any of the stylistic flourishes that dominated his early work. The film is visually robust, but it shows Ritchie’s range and ability to push himself into more traditional forms of direction. Working with cinematographer Alan Stewart, Ritchie did an excellent job directing the film.

The performances across the board are all very good. Jason Statham turns in one of his most nuanced and best performances in years. Statham is a capable actor that enjoys making movies he likes to watch. I respect that about him, even when he occasionally makes movies that don’t appeal to me or require him to show off his range. Wrath of Man serves as a great reminder of how underutilized he is dramatically. He’s great here. Josh Hartnett is another actor that doesn’t seem to be given the acting jobs that he can shine in. I really enjoyed his turn in the film. Jeffrey Donovan, Andy Garcia, and Holt McCallany are all perfectly cast in their supporting roles. The breakout performance in the film belongs to Scott Eastwood. Every now and then you watch an actor in a film and point at the screen and say, “that is a star right there.” I have no doubt in my mind after watching Scott Eastwood in this film that, given the right sequence of roles, there will be a day where Scott Eastwood is a heavy hitter in the industry. He has his dad’s looks and control of his screen presence. He has been underserved in prior roles and this was a good indicator of how his career will course in the future.

Overall – Wrath of Man is a fantastic film. Check it out!

Video

Wrath of Man arrives on Blu-ray from the original digital transfer from Warner Bros. in 1080p presented in 2.39:1 aspect ratio with an MPEG-4 AVC encode. This is a really strong presentation of the film on Blu-ray – essentially faultless. That said, it would be wonderful to see this film on 4K UHD so that some of the subtle visual touches could come through even better.  As far as visual presentations goes, this is a very solid transfer of the film. For those that only have a Blu-ray player, this is going to be your best option. There is a forthcoming 4K UHD that is being released in other countries, but currently Warner Bros. has only released the film on Blu-ray without any immediate plans to release it on 4K UHD. I was very happy with the transfer, but I would like to see the film on 4K UHD at some point!

Audio

Warner has provided a well done DTS-HD MA 5.1 track. As indicated from another review, the original sound design was in 7.1, so an Atmos track would have been preferred. That said, the 5.1 track sounds fantastic. For people not set up for Atmos, there is a lot they will love about this track. Clarity is strong and the surround effects are forceful and immersive.

Supplements:

None

Overall Scores:

Video – 5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 0/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Wrath of Man is an excellent revenge thriller from director Guy Ritchie. It’s a more serious and somber work than any of Ritchie’s earliest films, but still a wonderful showcase for the director. Jason Statham turns in one of his finest performances in the lead role. It was a good reminder of how talented Statham is when he is properly utilized. I was thoroughly impressed with the film. For fans of the film that have not purchased a UHD player, this release comes very highly recommended. That said, there is a German UHD release that is being released in a few months, and I also am holding out hope that Warner will decide to give the film a UHD release at some point. I would have enjoyed seeing the film with 7.1 audio, but I was still happy with what Warner has provided. Highly recommended.