Wrath of Man (2021)
Directed by Guy Ritchie
A cold and mysterious new security guard for a Los Angeles cash truck company surprises his co-workers when he unleashes precision skills during a heist. 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.
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37 films that influenced Wrath of Man
What critics say influenced Wrath of Man
Naturally, “Wrath of Man,” with its heists on the streets of LA, will be compared to Michael Mann’s terrific (and terrifically long) 1995 movie “Heat.”
In “Wrath of Man,” the action is more grounded, recalling the work of Michael Mann’s “Heat” (1996) or Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” (2008).
It’s a Heat rip-off, but not a gonzo one like Den of Thieves, which was anchored by the uncontainable charisma of Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, and the sneakily effective O’Shea Jackson Jr.
Guy Ritchie’s new film “ Wrath of Man” opens a lot like Christopher Nolan’s “ The Dark Knight” which was inspired by Michael Mann’s “ Heat” .
Think of Christian Gudegast’s delightfully scuzzy Den of Thieves crossed with the epic L.A. grandeur of Michael Mann’s Heat, peppered just a touch of the nihilism found in S. Craig Zahler’s Dragged Across Concrete and you’re mostly there.
Ritchie appears torn between remaking “Death Wish” and Michael Mann’s “Heat.”
However, this is a film more reminiscent of The Long Good Friday than The Lavender Hill Mob.
Rather, Wrath of Man feels like a British crime movie from the 1970s or early 1980s, more akin to Get Carter or The Long Good Friday in its sense of quiet, dissolute brutality mixed in with an effort to keep the viewer in the dark.
This is more of a Death Wish homage by way of Steven Soderbergh’s The Limey, an ode to the ’70s “wounded guy, big gun” aesthetic.
The obvious comparison is Michael Mann’s Heat — the less obvious one is Steven Soderbergh’s The Limey , which is also about an Englishman in L.A. trying to avenge a murdered child.
It’s no Heat , or The Limey , or Destroyer , but it’s not too far from Den Of Thieves in terms of its cheap, muscular thrills: a dual track of Statham’s solo investigations and a rag-tag team planning a heist.
It’s a Heat rip-off, but not a gonzo one like Den of Thieves, which was anchored by the uncontainable charisma of Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, and the sneakily effective O’Shea Jackson Jr.
At under two hours, however, the pulpy entertainment is welcome, including a bevy of twists that recall the recent (and slightly better) Den of Thieves .
They decide to use their skills to take down scores, giving this a Heat vibe at times, although thematically it's probably closer to Den of Thieves - albeit better.
Think of Christian Gudegast’s delightfully scuzzy Den of Thieves crossed with the epic L.A. grandeur of Michael Mann’s Heat, peppered just a touch of the nihilism found in S. Craig Zahler’s Dragged Across Concrete and you’re mostly there.
Wrath of Man might not end up with a reputation like Heat, but it’s likely to have a fate more like that of Den of Thieves, the 2018 L.A.-based cops-and-bank-robbers film that emerged as a cable and later a Netflix staple.
It’s no Heat , or The Limey , or Destroyer , but it’s not too far from Den Of Thieves in terms of its cheap, muscular thrills: a dual track of Statham’s solo investigations and a rag-tag team planning a heist.
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As revealed in the trailers, the civilian in question has a special connection to H, but even having that knowledge going in doesn’t affect your experience in the slightest because Wrath of Man is no complex murder mystery; it’s a straight-up revenge thriller in the same vein as John Wick .
The only one of any real lasting power is the decision to cast Statham as a surprise badass, when something like that only really works with actors like Bob Odenkirk in Nobody or to some extent, Keanu Reeves in John Wick .
With films like Nobody (2021) or the John Wick films, audiences are tuned to a certain style of violence.
This isn’t like the John Wick franchise, which has a phenomenally high body count but always seems to treat guns, daggers, or other weapons as extensions of the human form—true tools that we wield in ferocious dances with our foes and fates.
There is a real embrace of gloom, from the wardrobe, the lighting, even the silence, this is where “ Wrath of Man” moves into John Wick territory.
Nobody else goes full John Wick their first day on the job.
In “Wrath of Man,” the action is more grounded, recalling the work of Michael Mann’s “Heat” (1996) or Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” (2008).
Guy Ritchie’s new film “ Wrath of Man” opens a lot like Christopher Nolan’s “ The Dark Knight” which was inspired by Michael Mann’s “ Heat” .
While Statham plays off the stoical tough-guy persona he’s developed in the interim, Ritchie settles into the tense but relatively restrained mode of Christopher Nolan — specifically, “The Dark Knight,” easily the most influential action movie since “The Matrix.”
Rather, Wrath of Man feels like a British crime movie from the 1970s or early 1980s, more akin to Get Carter or The Long Good Friday in its sense of quiet, dissolute brutality mixed in with an effort to keep the viewer in the dark.
It’s fitting casting as Statham channels Clint Eastwood in “High Plains Drifter” (1973) or “Pale Rider” (1985) as an immortal being unleashing divine payback in a film marked with chapter titles like “A Scorched Earth.”
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It’s fitting casting as Statham channels Clint Eastwood in “High Plains Drifter” (1973) or “Pale Rider” (1985) as an immortal being unleashing divine payback in a film marked with chapter titles like “A Scorched Earth.”
Seen this way you could compare it to Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Punch-Drunk Love,” starring Adam Sandler as an Adam Sandler character, but in a lush Anderson tale.