One of Guy Ritchie’s latest crime and directorial installments. Featuring Jason Statham at his darkest and most discreet.
‘Wrath of Man’ takes revenge crime to a whole other level with its creative storytelling and point-of-view twists.
Keeping a dark tone, Ritchie is able to keep the audience engaged throughout the film, no matter how flawed the characters are, even Statham’s.
The Plot
At its core, the synopsis only gives us minor glimpses of what the films truly about: “Mysterious and wild-eyed, a new security guard for a cash truck 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.”
However, the narrative uses multiple timelines from different perspectives. Using this format helps the audience put the pieces of the story together and actually requires participation. Which other films with similar plots sometimes lack.
A Dark Spirit
This format splits the movie into four parts, with the first being title “A Dark Spirit”. After the opening scene of a robbery, not revealing much yet. We just know two workers and a civilian were murdered on the scene.
Then, it jumps to five months later where we meet our protagonist Patrick Hill (Statham), being interviewed for a security cash truck job.
Then we meet “Bullet” (Holt McCallany), who trains and supervises, also giving Patrick the nickname “H”. Patrick undergoes tests with a 70% passing grade needed.
It’s clear that he’s good at what he does, but he can’t let them know that, so he purposely stays just at the passing grade. After Hill gets the job, he’s assigned to work with Bullet and “Boy Sweat” Dave (Josh Hartnett).
The entire first act only teases what’s to come. With Hill being as secretive as possible, his co-workers nor even the audience know what his true motives are. Making everyone really suspicious of who he really is. That’s the beauty of the direction. Now into the first big reveal.
During a routine stop, Bullet is taken hostage by robbers. Demanding that H and Dave follow the instructions to hand over the money in the truck.
While Dave Is reluctant, to say the least, H’s true colors come in. Eventually killing all the robbers and saving the day, in a vicious yet clean fashion. Becoming a hero at work and increasing suspicions. Only for them to fall into H’s trap, I won’t reveal much else, this act is worth paying close attention to.
Scorched Earth
The timeline shifts back to robbery day, Hill is with his son Dougie. After getting a call, revealing he’s the boss of some shady underground crime ring with powerful government connections. Hill must do a job the one time he gets to see his son.
He makes a detour and parks the car to go handle his business. Unfortunate for Dougie, its revealed that he was the civilian shot and killed.
Again, using the power of different perspectives, we see one of the robbers shoot and kill him while H runs in terror trying to save him, to no avail. He’s shot at as well but not dead. Waking up weeks later with the news of his late son.
Patrick then embarks on a violent endeavor to interrogate and seek vengeance using his connections to do what he wants and hide any evidence. After no success, he tells his crew to go home, as he going to give it another approach. Connecting the dots and starting his journey as the security guard we met at the beginning.
Bad Animals, Bad
Now we get to the bad guy reveals. A group of ex-military combatants who have a taste for the wild side. Ritchie’s richness is very interesting here.
As once again the audience is taken to another timeline to focus and understand these characters better. There’s always an odd ball in every group, this one no different. Jan (Scott Eastwood) is the real antagonist. He’s the one who shot and killed Dougie and the workers, going completely off script and disobeying his team.
Liver, Lungs, Spleen & Heart
The grand finale, no more clues, no more flashbacks, this was it. The group plans one last score and plan to rob Fortico, (the cash truck company). With one important piece of the puzzle, which is Bullet.
He admits to H that they’re going to lead the crew into the building and if everything goes to plan, he’ll live. Once they enter the building and take everyone hostage, chaos ensues and He eventually gets free to work.
However, they do get away, kind of. The remaining guys kill each other because why not, money can make a man crazy. The survivor is Jan, for the time being. The final reveal is set strategically by Ritchie and co. Jan is not alone in his place, there was a phone placed in one of the money bags to track him.
All that’s left is for Hill to deliver the kill. But at what cost? The revenge is served but it’s clear nothing’s changed. The story ends similar to how it started, what’s next? Patrick drives off into the city exactly how he came into it.
A mysterious figure with no motive nor a plan to share one. Who is he and where did he come from? “H” is one of Jason Statham’s best characters and ‘Wrath of Man’ holds as one of Guy Ritchie’s best directed films to date.
