Wrath of Man

Statham stars as H, a new cash truck driver in Los Angeles whose thwarting of a robbery leads to his skillset with guns and mysterious past being questioned. Holt McCallany, Jeffrey Donovan, Chris Reilly, Josh Hartnett, Laz Alonso, Raúl Castillo, DeObia Oparei, Eddie Marsan and Scott Eastwood also star.

Wrath of Man was released in several countries on April 22, 2021, and in the United States on May 7. The film has grossed $104 million worldwide and received mixed reviews from critics upon release, who praised the action sequences but criticized the plot.

Plot

The film is separated into four parts, each circling back to one main event that sets off a chain reaction.

A Dark Spirit

An armored truck is robbed by heavily armed men dressed as construction workers. Two guards and a civilian bystander are killed during the robbery. Five months after the robbery, a mysterious man named Patrick Hill (Statham) applies to Fortico Security. In his interview, his soon-to-be superior, Terry (Marsan), commends him for his references and warns him of the fatal robbery. Hill is then introduced to the company trainer Haiden (McCallany), known as "Bullet," who nicknames him "H" and oversees his training and tests. Hill passes the tests, meeting the bare minimum requirements, and gets off to a rocky start with his new colleagues, including Dave "Boy Sweat" (Hartnett) and Dana Curtis, the only female guard. On his first official day, Hill, Boy Sweat, and Bullet are assigned to the truck. While driving to a pickup, Boy Sweat tells Hill more about the robbery, revealing that he was supposed to drive the vehicle but that day had called in sick.

After another pickup, Bullet is taken hostage by gunmen. The robbers radio Dave and Hill and demand the $2 million left in their truck. Boy Sweat panics, trying to remember what protocol is in this situation, ultimately determining they should drive away without Bullet. Hill convinces him to comply and try to save Bullet. Hill exits the truck and quickly disposes of the gunmen with expert marksmanship, to the awe of Boy Sweat and Bullet. The FBI agents assigned to the robbery question Hill about why his shooting abilities differ from his training scores, which he says is due to the situation heightening his senses. The agents ask him to watch security footage of the previously mentioned robbery to see if he thinks the two crimes are connected. Hill says there is no connection and is released. Terry tries to give Hill desk duty for a month in case of PTSD. However, the CEO of Fortico comes to personally thank Hill, telling Terry he should continue working in the field and get a promotion. The police investigators later identify Hill to their superior, FBI Agent King (Andy Garcia), as someone the Bureau had been looking for for 25 years. King tells them to let Hill off the hook and "let the painter paint." An associate subsequently visits Hill in his hotel room and delivers him Fortico employee files, Dana Curtis' family pictures, and an autopsy report. In a later pickup with just Hill and Bullet, the truck is attacked again. The robbers flood the armored truck with tear gas, forcing Hill to exit the vehicle. As soon as the robbers see Hill's face, they quickly retreat. Terry doesn't believe his story, thinking he is a psychopath, but the Fortico CEO commends Hill again. Hill, now a hero at work, sleeps with Dana and then holds her at gunpoint to ask her about a $125,000 cash stash he finds. She claims she stole money once from a liquor store for retirement savings. Hill spares her life but threatens further repercussions if he learns she is withholding other information.

Scorched Earth

On the robbery day, Hill is out with his son Dougie when he reluctantly agrees to a work call asking him to help with the recon of an armored truck route. Hill stops at a food truck on the other side of the bridge from the Fortico depot and monitors the gate while Dougie stays in the vehicle. Hill confirms with his coworker that the armored truck turned right out of the gate. As the armored truck goes under the bridge, it is attacked by the men disguised as construction workers. One robber orders Dougie out of his vehicle and is told to lie down on the ground. Hill watches as one of the robbers shoots and murders Dougie. While running towards Dougie, Hill is shot several times but survives. Before passing out, Hill sees the face of one of the gunmen. Three weeks later, Hill wakes up in a hospital and learns of his son's death. Hill’s wife claims their son's death was his fault and leaves him.

Hill meets up with FBI Agent King and requests information. King has a list of possible suspects that the FBI is also looking into, unsure of who committed the robbery. King tells Hill he can do what he likes, but to consider he can only turn a blind eye for so long. Hill is then revealed to be Mason Hargreaves, a crime lord. His underlings, Mike, Brendan, and Moggy, are the gunmen that ran away from the second attack after seeing Hill's face. Hargreaves demands information to find the men responsible for killing Dougie. His men kill nearly everyone on the list from King but do not get any information about the robbery. Mike suggests that the crime was an inside job. Hargreaves tells Mike that he will fly back to London to clear his mind. Instead he arranges a local contact, Kirsty, to provide him with the forged identity of Patrick Hill for a solo mission to infiltrate Fortico Security.

Bad Animals, Bad

Sometime before the robbery, a group of disgruntled military veterans consisting of Carlos, Sam, Brad, Tom, Jan, and their former commanding officer, Jackson (Donovan), are struggling to make ends meet. Most are unemployed or working underpaid jobs; the group decides to start doing increasingly ambitious heists. Jackson and Tom planned the heists in great detail while maintaining the façade of ordinary lives with families, except for Jan, who appears to have little respect for Jackson. Their first attempt to steal from a wealthy man comes up with only a few hundred thousand dollars. Frustrated, they decide to use their contacts in armored truck companies to gain inside information for more profitable heists. When they perform the Fortico heist, it is revealed that Jan is the one that kills the guards and Dougie against the wishes of the rest of the team.

Liver, Lungs, Spleen & Heart

Jackson and Tom bring the team together for a much larger but riskier final heist, aiming to steal over $150 million from the Fortico depot on the Black Friday shopping weekend. Hill and Bullet are riding together when Bullet reveals that he is the insider and tells Hill to cooperate, to which Hill agrees. Bullet pulls over the truck, and four of the thieves, dressed in full body armor, enter and hide in the truck to gain access to the depot while Jackson and Tom follow them in a black SUV. Once the hostage cash truck enters the depot, they take hostages, including Terry and Dave, while Dana and two other guards (Stuart and Shirley) are in the back of another truck, unaware of the situation. The thieves demand the gate be opened, threatening to kill Bullet if they don't, but one worker, John, triggers the alarm, and other guards begin shooting at the thieves. After killing the guards and using explosives to get through the interior gates, the thieves let Jackson and Tom in and start taking the money. Dana and Stuart contact the police, and Shirley decides to start shooting and is killed. In the commotion, Hargreaves strangles Carlos and frees Terry and Boy Sweat. Hargreaves puts on Carlos's armored helmet and takes his guns. Bullet breaks his cover and kills Dana and Stuart. Hargreaves kills Sam and Tom, and shoots Jackson in the neck, while Boy Sweat kills Brad. Bullet shoots Hargreaves and then kills Boy Sweat. Bullet, Jackson, and Jan make it out of the depot and evade police by entering a garage with access to underground tunnels. Believing Jan will betray them, Jackson takes out a pistol, but Jan stops him and slits his throat. When Jan and Bullet make it to the end of the tunnel, Bullet takes out a gun to kill Jan, but Jan kills him first. Jan successfully makes away with all the money before the police can deduce what happened.

At his apartment, Jan finds a phone ringing in one of the money bags, which was planted there by Hargreaves to track its location. Hargreaves confronts Jan with Dougie's autopsy report, then kills Jan by shooting him in the same places Dougie was shot. Hargreaves leaves the money behind and tells King it's over before he is driven away.

Cast

Jason Statham as Patrick "H" Hill/Mason Hargreaves

Holt McCallany as Haiden "Bullet" Blaire, a Fortico guard

Josh Hartnett as "Boy Sweat" Dave Hancock, a Fortico guard

Jeffrey Donovan as Jackson Ainsley, former platoon sergeant

Scott Eastwood as Jan, former military platoon, led by Jackson

Andy García as FBI Agent King

DeObia Oparei as Brad, former military platoon, led by Jackson

Laz Alonso as Carlos, former military platoon, led by Jackson

Raúl Castillo as Sam, former military platoon, led by Jackson

Chris Reilly as Tom, former military platoon, led by Jackson

Eddie Marsan as Terry Rossi, a Fortico manager

Niamh Algar as Dana Curtis, a Fortico guard

Tadhg Murphy as Shirley, a Fortico guard

Alessandro Babalola as Stuart, a Fortico guard

Darrell D'Silva as Mike, Hargreaves' henchman

Babs Olusanmokun as Moggy, Hargreaves' henchman

Cameron Jack as Brendan, Hargreaves's henchman

Rocci Williams as "Hollow" Bob Martin, a Fortico guard

Mark Arnold as Super

Josh Cowdery as FBI Agent Hubbard

Jason Wong as FBI Agent Okey

Rob Delaney as Blake Halls, Fortico boss

Eli Brown as Dougie, Hargreaves' son

Thomas Dominique as Jerome, a man tortured by Hargreaves' henchmen

Alex Ferns as Sticky John, a Fortico guard

Lyne Renée as Kirsty, Hargreaves' helper

Eve Macklin as Jane, Hargreaves' former wife

Post Malone (credited as "Austin Post") as a Robber

Production

Development

It was announced in October 2019 that Guy Ritchie was writing and directing an English-language remake of the 2004 film Cash Truck, with Jason Statham set to star.[7] Holt McCallany joined later in the month.[8] Filming began in November between Los Angeles and London, with Scott Eastwood, Jeffrey Donovan, Laz Alonso, Josh Hartnett and Niamh Algar added to the cast, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer taking on U.S. domestic distribution for the film.[9][10][11] In January 2020, Raúl Castillo was added to the cast.

Christopher Benstead, who previously worked with the director on The Gentlemen, composed the film score. Sony Classical released the soundtrack on May 7, 2021, coinciding with the film's release.

Release

The film was released internationally in several countries, beginning on April 22, 2021, including Russia and Australia.[13] It was later released in the United States on May 7, 2021. The film was originally set for release in the United States on January 15, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was later rescheduled for April 23, before being postponed again May 7. The film was released in China on May 10.

The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on July 13, 2021, by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment/Studio Distribution Services and MGM Home Entertainment.

Reception

Box office

As of July 20, 2021, Wrath of Man has grossed $27.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $76.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $104 million.

In the U.S., the film was released alongside Here Today and made $3 million from 2,875 theaters on its first day of release, including $500,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $8.1 million, topping the box office. Men made up 60% of the overall audience, with 72% being over the age of 25. In its second weekend the film dropped 55% to $3.7 million, finishing second behind newcomer Spiral.

In the film's opening weekend in Australia, it has grossed $1.34 million. It also made $201,000 in New Zealand and $3.79 million in Russia.[21] In its third weekend of international release the film made $13.5 million, as well as $18.5 million in its Chinese opening weekend.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 66% of 233 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Wrestling just enough stakes out of its thin plot, Wrath of Man sees Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham reunite for a fun, action-packed ride." According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average score of 57 out of 100 based on 36 critics, the film received "mixed or average reviews".[24] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 77% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 57% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Alonso Duralde of the TheWrap wrote: "Ritchie's reunion with leading man Jason Statham delivers the scheming, the shooting, and the swearing that the director's fans have come to expect, by the bucketload." Mae Abdulbaki of Screen Rant gave the film a 3.5 out of 5 stars rating, stating that "the film balances multiple storylines with intense action sequences and, despite pacing issues, packs a major punch that will keep audiences riveted."

Writing for Variety, Peter Debruge said: "A few years ago, when Sam Mendes left the Bond franchise, Ritchie's name was floated as a possible replacement. He didn't take the gig, but Wrath of Man shows that he certainly could have, classing up his signature technique while never quite abandoning the cockney swagger."Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, writing: "Tired, uninspired and meandering, Wrath of Man is a step backward for Ritchie, a step sideways for the stoic-for-life Jason Statham (reteaming with Ritchie for the first time in 16 years) and a misstep for anyone who invests their time and money on 118 minutes of such convoluted and forgettable nonsense,"[28] while Noah Berlatsky writes: "Guy Ritchie's Wrath of Man, though, is wearisomely true to its title: Male anger is what it offers, and male anger — in all its predictably tedious humorlessness — is all it is interested in providing."

Notelist

MGM and Miramax split international distribution rights amongst themselves for Wrath of Man. Box Office Mojo reports that while Miramax distributed the film in selected territories including China, France, Spain and others, MGM distributed elsewhere, mostly through third-party distributors such as StudioCanal in Germany, Australia and New Zealand and Lionsgate in the United Kingdom and Ireland, among others.