Stanko's Stance

Director: Guy Ritchie
Writers: Guy Ritchie, Éric Besnard, Nicolas Boukhrief, Marn Davies, Ivan Atkinson
Staring: Jason Statham, Holt McCallany, Josh Hartnett, Scott Eastwood
IN THEATERS!!!
Release Date: May 7, 2021

GUYS. I WENT TO THE MOVIES. AND IT WAS AWESOME!

For the first time since February, 2020, I walked into a cinema, purchased tickets and snacks, and sat in my favorite place on earth. It was magical.

Wrath Of Man is a classic action revenge story but with a tinge of Guy Ritchie’s pizzaz. There are witty barbs and a lots of violence interwoven in this predictable but all-be-it entertaining experience. Jason Statham stars as “H”, a mysterious man hell-bent on a mission that is not known to all. As the four parts of the movie unfold, the motivation of H and purpose of the story all come into view.

Wrath Of Man struggles to find its footing. The opening 20 minutes is sloppy compared to the rest of the adventure. The audience does not have all the answers and is meant to be confused as to what is happening; but that disassociation is not compensated with strong filmmaking.

The script of Wrath Of Man also struggles most at the start of the movie. There is a locker room scene where the dialogue is truly tedious and cringeworthy. My girlfriend was laughing and saying “is it going to stay this bad?”

Luckily the movie did improve. Wrath Of Man really picks up when H can reveal his skills and we begin to get a sense of what he is capable of. The secrets that are being kept are starting to become unwoven…with a hail of bullets.

Statham is absolutely stone cold as H. Honestly perfectly casting for the role. The dialogue is minimal and half the time is just grunts and glares. His job is to be intimidating and kick-ass, both things that Statham does incredibly well. What may shock you as the next best casting job is Scott Eastwood as Jan. The handsome devil is sucking in the screen every time he is shown on the screen.

People will recognize a lot of people from Wrath Of Man. Holt McCallany of Mindhunter fame plays Bullet, and even Andy Garcia makes a few appearances. Throw in Josh Hartnett and Jeffery Donovan too. The best getup of the movie belongs to Sticky John, played by Alex Ferns. The drastic combover and truly unique look makes his few conversations with H well above par.

The ending of Wrath Of Man has a lot in common with John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum. The bad guys have massive body armor on that makes them nearly indestructible and the hero must somehow survive the ordeal. Everyone will agree that Wick handles the show of it better, but still the conclusion of Wrath Of Man puts a nice bow (all-be-it a small one) on the story.

Some may ask how how H gets to the final setting of the movie, but I do give credit to the writers for creating a bit of breathing room. They call him “The Dark Spirit”, and if you want to play at that game, a spirit can arise anywhere it’s calling persists.

Overall Wrath Of Man is fine action movie that has a strong leading performance but is lacking on the exterior. The side characters don’t have the same charisma as past Guy Ritchie movie. The dialogue is not as fluid and quick as some would expect. Essentially, this is not an action-comedy but more and an action-drama, which is a bit outside of what Ritchie excels in. Wrath Of Man has moments, but lacks the gusto to raise it above a one-time viewing.

Stanko Rating: C (2.5/5 Stars)

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