Guy Ritchie not only makes a film as amazing as his last outing, The Gentlemen (2019), but actually succeeds over his previous effort in each and every aspect of filmmaking. Co-written with Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies, and based on the French film Cash Truck (2004), the synopsis of Wrath of Man (2021) is as follows:
“The plot follows H, a cold and mysterious character working at a cash truck company responsible for moving hundreds of millions of dollars around Los Angeles each week.” – IMDb
Before I start my review I’d like to share my friend and fellow film critic Mahnoor Khan’s Urdu-language review of Wrath of Man below:
Jason Statham continues his box office dominance which started with him entering The Fast and the Furious franchise in 2013, but afterwards starring in a string of lackluster films before leading 2019’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Wrath of Man is his first film since Hobbs & Shaw and it looks like he is picking the right roles unlike other action stars who fail to reclaim their fame after a downfall.
The supporting cast is not so bad either. It is star-studded with TV stars namely Holt McCallany (Mindhunter), Josh Hartnett (Penny Dreadful), and Lazaro Alonso (The Boys). Scott Eastwood, the semi-famous son of Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood, plays against type here in his best performance to date as Jan.
I rarely come across an action movie nowadays which is not only perfect, especially in terms of its genre, but also unpredictable. I could not guess the plot as easily as that of the last entertaining action flick I viewed namely Nobody (2021) which starred another character playing against type namely Bob Odenkirk. From Wrath of Man’s offset until its ending, I could not see any plot twist unfolding before it occurred.
The nihilistic screenplay, the well-timed pacing, the razor-sharp editing, the brilliant cinematography, and the adrenaline-pumping action sequences, prove that Wrath of Man is flawless in every way. If I were to nitpick some flaw it would be the farfetched narrative – but hey! – the way things are going today this blockbuster’s story doesn’t seem that over-the-top at all.
To top it all off is the chemistry between Guy Ritchie’s direction and Jason Statham’s signature stoic performance as the main character H. Even though Jason Statham isn’t one of the best 21st century’s thespians he is still one of the finest modern action stars, and he combines both action and acting in his spectacular lead performance as equally well as Ritchie’s juxtaposition of action and comedy – which he also showed in his picture The Gentlemen, which was on my list of the finest films of 2019.
