Wrath Of Man

Halfway through Wrath Of Man someone calls Jason Statham a cold cunt and lives to tell the tale. The Stath of old would have torn off their head and chucked it into the nearest river, then kicked the corpse in the crotch. Before kneecapping it. 2021 Stath has mellowed slightly. Now he takes his time, thinks through the if's, and's & but's and only then does he start slamming knives into necks. If this is the way middle age Stath is going to go I'll be quite happy to keep watching.

Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham are back together for the first time since 2005's Revolver. Now that was a dire film but in the 16 years since one has become a beloved action star and the other has upped his directorial game considerably. Both have had mis-steps along the way (Wild Card, Hummingbird & King Arthur) but it's safe to say both are doing very well these days. Wrath Of Man sees both playing to their strengths ( hyper masculinity, profane & witty banter, face mincing violence) but annoyingly the excesses of Ritchie's early career are still hanging around too. 

Fortico security are tasked with a dangerous job. Moving money in armoured vehicles in and around Los Angeles. Armed to the teeth, within steel beasts on wheels, these workers are very much the prey in a lawless city. Their newest recruit is H (guess who). He's teamed with Bullet (Holt McCallany) and Boy Sweat (Josh Hartnett) and thrown in at the deep end. On his first day out H shows what he's made of when he single handedly destroys a team of wannabe thieves. The bosses are loving him. He's doing his work and he's not messing around. His co-workers though are unsettled. There's something off about him, his demeanour. They aren't wrong....

As Lock, Stock..., Snatch and last years The Gentlemen so amply proved there's nothing Guy Ritchie likes more than messing with a film's timeline. 3 films with straightforward story lines made overly complicated and convoluted for no real reason whatsoever. The trend continues with Wrath Of Men and like always it only ever takes from the story. Early scenes are confusing, large swathes of the cast (including Ireland's own Niamh Algar) barely have time to register, another big ol' chunk of cast is only introduced nearly an hour into the film, one scene is pointlessly replayed from three points of view and most annoyingly of all, the man himself is sidelined for a large section of the film's second act. 

But when it gets going it will get the adrenaline flowing. In the years since Revolver Ritchie has gotten a lot better at directing action. He doesn't cut away from the carnage like he used to and as a result the action sequences have a muscular heft to them. Add in an old pro like Stath doing what he does best and there's a lot here to enjoy. Fans of Post Malone might not agree but who cares what those fools think when you have Statham in full anti hero mode painting walls with robber brains and spouting lines like "I'll wait until you put your arsehole back into your arsehole." His quest is a dark one but his scenes with Holt McCallany (so good in Mindhunters, and really enjoying himself here) give the film a few badly needed laughs and it's in these moments you can sense the film's tongue lodged firmly in it's cheek.

Wrath Of Man is available to stream online now if you use a VPN and hopefully will be on the big screen soon when Irish cinemas open again. It's far from perfect but it's a fun slice of testosterone.