‘Wrath of Man’ is a dark, brooding revenge thriller that doesn’t offer much fun

Posted on May 14, 2021

By MARK VIOLA

I’m a fan of director Guy Ritchie and tend to really like his movies, whether they’re mainstream flicks like “Sherlock Holmes” and “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” or his smaller works like last year’s “The Gentlemen.” He has a particular style in which he makes his movies, which can turn off some people, but it’s a style I really enjoy.

“The Gentlemen” made my Top 10 list last year, and I was looking forward to his newest, “The Wrath of Man,” which stars Jason Statham (“The Meg), reuniting the two after working together on 1998’s “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” the actor’s first feature film. This movie is a remake of the 2004 French film, “Cash Truck.”

Although “Wrath of Man” is a well-made and mostly well-acted revenge thriller, do know that it is lacking most of Ritchie’s usual directorial flares. While this may please some — as I said, not everybody likes his particular style of filmmaking — it also strips away much of the humor and fun I usually find in his movies, leaving us with a dark, brooding story that never really takes a moment to give its audience a break from the gloom.

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