Wrath of Man

Having experimented with Disney remakes, spy thrillers and fantasy reimaginings, a lot Guy Ritchie's fans were happy to see him return to what he knew best with the British crime comedy in 2019 with The Gentlemen. It didn't work for me as well as I had hoped but it saw the director experimenting with his favourite genre and a colourful cast that gave the film a fun sense of style. Hoping continue on this streak with the darker film, Wrath of Man, Ritchie reunited with Jason Statham for a remake of the 2004 French heist thriller, Cash Truck, but it's unfortunately something of a miss-fire. 

Statham stars as a newly enlisted member of cash truck driving team, who are regularly targeted by criminals, but for some reason he welcomes the danger much to the confusion of his colleagues who see him as vastly outqualified. Why did he join, what's his story and what made Josh Hartnett choose to star in this film? It's all a mystery that Ritchie decides to explore slowly in his film broken down by moody chapter names (A Dark Spirit, Scorched Earth etc) that hint at something bigger at play. 

Yet to cut right to the point; there really isn't anything special about Wrath of Man that wants to be a exploration into the mythical modern masculine psyche but comes off as an unpleasant, pretentiously drab revenge flick with little to redeem itself. Statham tries his best but he works when given a role that offers a chance to show some charisma for which there is none here as the unlikeable lead hindered by an awful screenplay. The supporting cast try their best but Ritchie doesn't do enough to make you care and I'm really not sure what Hartnett saw in this, who is completely wasted with some cringe-inducing lines. 

Wrath of Man is a strange, cheerless mess that fails to play to the strengths of its leading man and is just one best avoided. There is nothing special about the action and you will feel long checked out before that final chapter comes around in this hollow experience. Fortunately for Guy, his next film Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre looks like he's back on more familiar territory and leave this behind to be forgotten.