A seemingly normal guy joins an armoured truck firm in Los Angeles. But it quickly becomes apparent that 'H' (Jason Statham) is not quite who he says he is. The question is; who is he really, and what is he really up to?
A remake of the 2004 French movie Cash Truck (Le Convoyeur), Wrath of Man is a testosterone-fuelled, albeit dreary tale of a man out for revenge. One that certainly highlights the potential dangers of a career driving armoured trucks. The dreary stylings may be a strange choice for an action movie, but it is actually rather fitting, given that by its very nature, vengeance is a grim business. It doesn't take long for the bullets to start flying in some fairly tense action scenes, as every armed robber in Los Angeles seems to be interested in what these armoured trucks are carrying. Director Guy Ritchie brings a gritty blend of Hollywood action movie tropes as H - with some occasional help from his colleagues - takes on any wannabe robbers. Expect lots of shooting and very few reloads. Of course there could only be one person to play this one-man army; Jason Statham. The man brings an intensity to H - in fact, there's H and there's concrete. It quickly becomes clear he's a man you don't want to mess with. Despite coming across a tad machine-like at times, the Stath does manage to inject a tiny amount of mystery into this character, who clearly has more going on than he wants anyone to know.
Unfortunately, Wrath of Man lacks Ritchie's usual panache. There's no flair to it, no real intrigue to draw you in. The twists aren't very well hidden, meaning that you'll have pretty much figured out what's going on in the first five minutes, and the aforementioned mystery is pretty much wasted. It doesn't help that the story - which is divided into four chapters - jumps back and forth through time, which can make things a tad confusing. Although one flashback does feature a few moments in which Statham turns off the action movie hardman bit. Something that adds some much needed emotion into the mix, and actually humanises his character. The same cannot be said of the pretty impressive supporting cast (Holt McCallany, Eddie Marsan, Andy Garcia, Josh Hartnett, Niamh Algar, Rob Delaney, Deobia Oparei, Laz Alonso, Scott Eastwood, Jeffrey Donovan) who despite turning in good performances, are given very little to do. This includes a certain heist crew, whose introduction comes a little late in the game. A rushed and rather thin back story makes it hard to empathise with any of the crew members, so there's no real conflict or room for debate over some questionable morals. All of which, combined with a rather bland and predictable plot, means Wrath of Man builds to a climax that doesn't really deliver the payoff it should.
Some good action scenes make for some exciting moments, but the predictable plot and plain characters mean it never really achieves Thriller status.
5/10
Wrath of Man is available to watch on Amazon Prime.
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