Wrath of Man Film Review

Lungs, liver, spleen, heart.

No, not a Trump I.Q. test but a plot point that makes no sense really but is inserted into the film for "cool" purposes. A catchphrase of sorts. A killing catchphrase. This is a grim relentless film and Jason Statham is once again the instrument of death. It is basic revenge porn that is hard to resist as it appeals to our male fantasy machismo with a blow torch but at the same time feels so exploitive that I felt guilty for enjoying it as much as I did. I wonder what it means that there have been so many of these types of films over the past ten years or so. One nearly indestructible individual who has as one of them says "What I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career, skills that make me a nightmare for people like you.". And all of us in the audience think damn, I wish I had those skills. With so many of these types of films, it feels like everyone has those skills. Kill everyone and walk away untouched and not arrested. We have always had revenge films and they have always been satisfying but now there is no cost to revenge. You kill dozens of people and just go home. That doesn't feel right but that is what makes us happy now.

Statham makes a fine avenger. His sort of character where not a lot of emotion or expressions are needed. Your face set in unapproachable fuck off repose. Don't go looking for any laughs here. Statham gets a job at an armored car security company and he isn't there to make friends. Director Guy Ritchie keeps the reason why obscure for much of the film but eventually falls back on a series of flashbacks to bring you up to the present. The flashbacks are bloody and violent and bring out the monster within his character (just called "H"). As far as anti-heroes go, he is top of the Hit Parade. And yet can we do anything but root for him? That is the bind Ritchie puts us in. How much revenge is too much? But when you are watching the film, you don't digress much. You are sucked in by the mysterious aura around this man and his particular skills.