We love watching action movies as much as anyone else. In fact our movie collection is filled with Bourne, Bond, heist movies, and ones with great explosions and more. So watching an action movie isn’t out of the realm of possibility in our home. However, when we go through our movie list there are very few with Jason Statham as the main action hero. Not that we don’t like him, but there is a certain type of movie that he tends to make and they’re usually not ones that appeal to us.
Unfortunately, his latest movie, Wrath of Man, seems to fit into the long list of other movies he’s done that we maybe watch once and never again. It’s a standard action film with the same trope that is used over and over again for the story line – revenge. You know the one, the main actor loses someone or something he loves and spends the whole movie righting his wrong by killing people or blowing crap up. The same trope that is so rarely used for women main actors that when it comes up as a story line it’s a breath of fresh air – and let’s face it, women may have a few reasons to blow stuff up in the revenge category too.
Wrath of Man starts slow. Yes, there is a shoot out at the beginning but it doesn’t really grab your attention. It hops around in time to tell the story and it also is completely predictable. With the revenge plot as the base of the movie, you know that as soon as Jason Statham comes into the story it’s going to be a story of him fixing some situation. But he comes in to the position as a security guard as an “unassuming” guy who just barely passes the qualifications. Just looking at him, you would know that isn’t going to be the case. But they try to downplay and make him an “every man” so much they put him in a weird grandpa sweater that is so out of character that it caused us to laugh.
Ah yes, there is that Post Malone cameo – don’t worry it wont last too long and detract from the movie at all. His acting skills actually aren’t too bad, they seem to fit in with a lot of the other actors that seem to be over acting throughout the whole film. But with nicknames like Bullet and Diabetes – I don’t think you can blame any of them for not taking their characters too seriously anyhow. I mean, no one is heading into to see this type of action movie expecting it to be a deep and meaningful experience.
Don’t expect there to be deep dialogue or anything to make you feel a connection. With lines like “put your asshole back in your asshole” Wrath of Man is pretty shallow on every level. But hey, we’re here to just watch people get shot and revenge served right? We don’t need the rest.
So, who would actually want to go see Wrath of Man? Anyone who likes pointless and useless action movies. Yes, that’s pretty much where we would qualify this movie. The gun battles are there, there’s the whole revenge storyline and all of that that the movie is going to draw certain people. Fans of other Guy Ritchie films may be drawn to this movie as well – but it doesn’t have anything in the film that would make us want to watch it again. The story is shallow, the time jumping is weird. And other than a great use of a Johnny Cash song that was timed great with a scene – there’s nothing that would require a rewatch of the film.
Wrath of Man is in theaters today.
Overall Rating:
About Wrath of Man:
A mysterious and wild-eyed new cash truck security guard (Jason Statham) surprises his coworkers during a heist in which he unexpectedly unleashes precision skills. 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
