(spoiler free)
Riddle me this: when was the last time Guy Ritchie made something truly memorable? And I don’t mean just “enjoyable”, like his adaptation of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., but a full-fledged masterclass at filmmaking. Probably Snatch, right? His last few movies, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and Aladdin, were disastrous corporate-filled slogs, without an ounce of creativity, nor Ritchie’s signature wry charm and vivid dynamism. While The Gentlemen seemed like a return to form for Ritchie, after trying (and miserably failing) at IP-driven movies, he needed to re-team with Jason Statham to craft an impeccable motion picture from top to bottom.
Based on the deadly dull film Le Convoyeur by Nicolas Boukhrief, Wrath of Man is Ritchie’s best film since Snatch, a tension-filled crime thriller fueled by Jason Statham’s best-ever performance. He plays “H”, a mysterious man who applies to Fortico Security, an armored truck company specializing in the movement of money for it to be held at Fortico Headquarters. After being briefed and trained around by “Bullet” (Holt McCallany), H proves a strong addition to the Fortico team, after he saves Bullet from kidnappers, by single-handedly killing each one of them. The film follows the same plot line from Le Convoyeur, as we progressively learn that H is not who he says he is, and is on a quest to avenge his son’s death, by trying to find the ones responsible for it.
Where Le Convoyeur fails at establishing compelling characters and a gripping story, Wrath of Man brilliantly succeeds. Its style is already showcased during its lavish opening credits sequence, which is highly reminiscent of David Fincher’s remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and perfectly captures the bleak tone it’ll adopt. Ritchie doesn’t hold back on its grim setting, with Chris Benstead’s music acting as a premonition for what’s to come, and Alan Stewart’s cinematography being filled with hues of grey and murky lighting. As H enters the Fortico building, barely saying a word, we know something is rummaging in his head and that it’ll only take a matter of time before his rage starts to come out. And yet, even when you push him to the limit, he always comes back with a calm demeanor, knowing only one way out of this predicament. Immediately, Statham’s performance recalls Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey in the Death Wish series, imbuing a mask of coolness underneath innumerable amounts of psychological pain. Statham has always been a perfect deadpan protagonist since his early roles in Ritchie films, but he’s able to mix Kersey’s coldness, as he is fueled with the flames of vengeance, and his signature style of wry humor.
In Death Wish II, Kersey approaches a gang member, sees his cross and says: “Do you believe in Jesus?” The gang member replies, “Yes I do”, to which Kersey says “Well, you’re gonna meet him.” Bang. No hesitation. That same type of wryness is found in Wrath of Man, when H confronts criminals by toying with them and mocking their actions, before shooting them. One scene in which H tells Post Malone to “suck your own dick” before shooting him is the exact type of no-nonsense demeanor Paul Kersey continuously adopts in the Death Wish franchise, knowing that he won’t be able to live with himself if he doesn’t make the killers pay…and even then. Both Kersey and H have the same type of behavior when it comes to vengeance.
They don’t care to what extent they break the law, as long as the ones that killed their family members die. H never hesitates when he makes a kill, which makes him particularly vicious during the film’s numerous action sequences. It’s also been a while since Ritchie crafted action scenes that were this visually interesting, with the film’s main antagonists in Daft Punk-esque armored suits, distorted robotic voice and all, exacting total terror on their target, and wonderfully performed by the likes of DeObia Oparei, Jeffrey Donovan, Raul Castillo and Scott Eastwood. The latter, in particular, adopts the same looks his father did about 50 years ago in the Dollars trilogy to give his character the temper he needs to be convincing. As soon as you see Eastwood on screen, the first thing Ritchie does is showcase his eyes: filled with an insatiable amount of rage, even farther than H, which makes him particularly threatening during the film’s magnificent climax, which amalgamates three storylines of characters in a rousing finale filled with ultra-kinetic action that quite literally puts you on the edge of your seat, until the final scene brings everything together in one of the most satisfying endings I’ve seen all year.
Spoiling it would be sinful, because it isn’t the same as Le Convoyeur. In fact, it’s miles better. Le Convoyeur’s best part was its ending, which gave the film’s main character, played by Albert Dupontel, satisfaction, but not as much as H. Throughout Wrath of Man, we meticulously follow H in his journey to bring justice to his son’s assassins and slowly start to realize how everything came together, through three distinct perspectives, yet never losing his focus on H. When the film starts to tell the villains’ backstories, it still always comes back to H, showing his anguish when he son dies and seeing how his “wrath” came to be. Once everything starts to make sense, and the audience says “A-ha!”diverging twists start to happen, with the film becoming more exciting by the minute. The camera moves, the Daft Punk villains relentlessly fire their machine guns, while H takes them out one by one, in pure Nobody/Death Wish fashion. The kills are relentless and never stop, with Statham’s coolness never wearing off, even if we know he’s filled with pain beyond that empty façade.
My heart stopped during the film’s ending, and it was the moment where I knew I witnessed something truly special. A never-ending opera of violence and rage, with superb performances from Statham, McCallany and Eastwood. A once in a lifetime cinematic experience (since they rarely make ‘em like these, nowadays), that not only showcases Ritchie’s expert craftsmanship at building three distinct storylines in a way where everything comes through in the end, but delivers an exciting motion picture that’s unlike anything made in the hollywood ecosystem this year. One of my friends told me what when Ritchie does more independent cinema, as opposed to studio-driven films, he always delivers. I’m inclined to agree with him, as Wrath of Man is not only one of Ritchie’s best projects yet, but one of the finest films of the year. An impeccably vivifying picture for the eyes and ears. See it as quickly as you can.
Written by Maxance Vincent
★★★★★
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