Movielogr

Rating: 6 stars

Tags

toniap Los Angeles revenge inside man inside job armored car armed robbery murder manhunt double cross

All movies seen on 03/04/2025

View on: IMDb | TMDb

Wrath of Man (2021)

Directed by Guy Ritchie

Crime | Thriller | Action

Most recently watched by AllAboutSteve, CaptainBigTime, sleestakk

Overview

A cold and mysterious new security guard for a Los Angeles cash truck company surprises his co-workers when he unleashes precision skills during a heist. The crew is left wondering who he is and where he came from. Soon, the marksman’s ultimate motive becomes clear as he takes dramatic and irrevocable steps to settle a score.

Rated R | Length 118 minutes

Actors

Jason Statham | Holt McCallany | Josh Hartnett | Scott Eastwood | Darrell D'Silva | Babs Olusanmokun | Jeffrey Donovan | Eddie Marsan | Andy Garcia | Niamh Algar | Alex Ferns | Laz Alonso | Deobia Oparei | Chris Reilly | Raúl Castillo | Post Malone | Lyne Renee | Rocci Williams | Anthony Molinari | Tadhg Murphy | Matthew Illesley | Rebecca Calder | Jason Wong | Alessandro Babalola | Eli Brown | Cameron Jack | Montana Manning | Josh Cowdery | Eve Macklin | Fernando Martinez | Stevee Davies | James Warren | Sam Shoubber | Leonardo Lacaria | Khalid Ghajji | Anthony Elfonzia | Martin Bratanov | Phoebe Farnham | Mark Shrimpton | Dee Pearce | Cain Aiden | Stephanie Mae | Christian Sanderson | Luke Lynch | Rob Delaney | Puneet Tyagi | Gerald Tyler

Viewing History (seen 2 times)

Viewing Notes

This would still make a good movie night movie paired with DEN OF THIEVES.

I really want to like this movie more than I do. It has great potential and the material seems to be perfect for Ritchie. It’s not dissimilar to THE GENTLEMEN, even using the same narrative flashback structure as that film. In THE GENTLEMEN it’s used to great effect and really builds to the final act; whereas here it just robs the movie of most of its tension, leading to a final act that’s almost a foregone conclusion by the time we get there. It does have some surprises but most of it is telegraphed well ahead of time.

My other problem is the dialogue. Statham’s H is the grim, silent, asshole type right from the get-go; and while a later extended flashback gives you the reasons for that, it still feels wrong for the character at the beginning, given his motive for seeking employment with the armored truck company. It’s more Statham being a badass then it is Statham playing this character well, at least during the first act.

And then we have Holt McCallany’s Bullet and Boy Sweat Dave, played by Josh Hartnett. What a great character name! I like McCallany as an actor but his portrayal of Bullet feels too cliched; we’re obviously meant to question both Bullet and Boy Sweat Dave. Bullet is overly gregarious, making you immediately suspicious of him; and Boy Sweat Dave is just seedy and conspiratorial enough for you to not trust him either. Hartnett does a good job with that character, but there’s just not enough screen time for him to really get his hooks into us with any depth. The only real question is are one or both of them red herrings to throw you off?

Next up we’ve got Scott Eastwood who’s mostly trading on his Eastwood looks and heritage here because his character is way too one-dimensional for you to even give a rat’s ass what happens to him, good or bad. Which is too bad because this is a role he could’ve sunk his teeth into if given the opportunity. He’s definitely a better actor than what’s on screen here.

The rest of the supporting cast is mostly good, though also mostly wasted. You’ve got Andy Garcia, Jeffrey Donovan, Eddie Marsan (who shines in his small but important part in THE GENTLEMEN but is just kind of a background character here without much to really do) and Niamh Algar (she’s so great as the lead in CENSOR!) as one of the guards, Dana. I initially had hopes that her character would play a more important role but again, mostly wasted. The whole kinda sex scene between her and Statham’s H is really unnecessary as none of the other characters are shown getting the same investigatory treatment as she does. Algar gets done dirty in the final act which is an unfulfilling end for her character.

I really want to watch LE CONVOYEUR (aka CASH TRUCK), the French film from 2004 that this movie is a remake of, to see how they compare. Luckily it’s streaming on Amazon Prime so maybe I’ll give it a go soon while this movie is still fresh in my mind. This also makes me want to revisit John Hillcoat’s TRIPLE 9 and the underrated but flawed Steven Miller heist film MARAUDERS. I’m sure most people dismiss MARAUDERS as just another shitty c-grade actioner pimping an appearance by Bruce Willis to sell itself, but with Christopher Meloni and Dave Bautista rounding out the top line cast, it’s actually a decent watch.

Comments