Wrath of Man

Guy Ritchie may be returning to the world of live-action Disney remakes before long, but in the interim, he’s fortunately doubled down on his commitment to London crime sagas, albeit with space to experiment.

Though filming off British soil has previously resulted in career lows Aladdin, Swept Away, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., shifting to present day Los Angeles for Wrath of Man proves a rewarding tangent, largely thanks to another inspired collaboration with longtime comrade Jason Statham and a commitment to solemnity that enhances the material.

Ritchie’s remake of the 2004 French film Le Convoyeur offers a thorough (and thoroughly entertaining) telling of Patrick Hill (Statham) seeking revenge for…well, best to find out for yourself, as piecing together the complex components isn’t just part of the fun — it’s basically the whole movie.

Throughout Hill’s training at an elite armored car company under the tutelage of Bullet (Holt McCallany, Mindhunter), ominous, Jaws-theme-like sounds by composer Christopher Benstead (The Gentlemen) suggest danger ahead, while Hill’s precision dispatching of robbers on one of his first assignments casts an already mysterious man in an even more intriguing light.

As Ritchie and his Gentlemen co-writers Marn Davies and Ivan Atkinson peel back the layers on our protagonist, a few darkly funny, locker room humor barbs emerge, but Wrath of Man is otherwise devoid of jokes — with the exception of the almost comic frequency with which armored car heists occur.

The consistent serious tone is a shift from the filmmaker’s usual winning blend of crime and comedy, but proves an apt choice for the high stakes of Hill’s mission and renders the inevitable carnage to come far more impactful than the average action film. 

Practically every death feels significant in this well-established milieu, and Ritchie’s ever-evolving gifts as a visual storyteller ensure a steadily heart-pounding experience without skimping on his trademark sense of cool.

Some of the film’s best witty moments involve Hill’s interplay with FBI Agent King (Andy Garcia), who grants him temporary leeway for vengeance, but as he has in their three previous efforts, Statham exudes such a high level of magnetism by simply existing within the frame that one wishes he would work with Ritchie more often.

Grade: B-plus. Rated R. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Biltmore Grande, and Carolina Cinemark.

(Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures)