If you analyzeGuy Ritchie’s career, you’re in for an interesting ride. To call the English director’s filmography a diverse one would be a severe understatement, as he’s explored family-friendly territory as well as romantic adventures, all surrounded by his universe of gangsters meeting the Ritchie moral compass. Regardless of what everyone said, he always seemed to apply his laws when deciding what projects to tackle next.
Yes, his experiments didn’t do so well. Box office bombs and backlash from critics were common when he started to do stuff he wasn’t used to. To talk about commissioned work is to dig deep in something we understandably are not sure about, but people actually accused him of being a sellout. TheDisney live-action adaptationofAladdindidn’t help. We can imagine at some point, he looked back at the times when he was a starlet in the making.
Then cameThe Gentlemen,the crime comedy that made him return to his comfort zone and allowed him to gather an ensemble cast. It worked out pretty good for the director who got some respect for coming home and showing sometimes you should do the things you’re better at. If this didn’t open his eyes, his next film would. And for that he reunited with a perfectly functional asset: action star Jason Statham.
Wrath of Manis a very good action movie. Even with its awkward pace and humor, this is the part of Ritchie’s territory where he can let go and be free in the writer/director/producer’s seat. His good buddy Statham also needed some kind of boost after his participation in franchises and a reunion with Ritchie seemed natural. The result was an amazingly fun film that feels geared from start to finish.
The Ritchie Touch Makes Wrath of Man Worth Watching
Let’s remember what made the first part of his career different from his peers’ beginnings. Ritchie had personality, and he showed that in his films. It’s not just about his collaborations with Vinnie Jones, Jason Flemyng, or Statham himself. He created worlds that made you feel part of his views, and there were always friends to gather with. Maybe they were inthe forms of gangstersand criminals, but familiar faces in the end.
Related:Every Guy Ritchie Movie, Ranked
The Ritchie identity faded with the years when he left the subgenre and started making more stuff. He was always in the writer’s seat, but this didn’t mean you felt you were watching a Ritchie joint.Wrath of Manfeels very much like a Ritchie film, packing action scenes and subtle character motivations that add up in the end. The film was criticized for not having enough character development, but that’s exactly how Ritchie does things — and here, it works.
Out of the Pub and Into Daylight
Additionally, Ritchie goes back to the gangsters’ underworld but not the way you’d expect. InWrath of Man, Statham plays an amateur cash truck driver in L.A. who one day stops a heist just like Frank Martin, the dude from Transporter, would. This means he’s not who he says he is. That’s clear from the beginning. Ritchie takes his time to reveal the truth about his character. Using a traditional editing, the director appeals to the personality of characters to hook the audience into falling for the moral rollercoaster the film proposes. There are twists here and there, and they work.
Related:Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels: 25 Years On
The important thing is this change of scenery feels like a hit for Ritchie who doesn’t depend anymore on a cultural backdrop to put his characters in familiar situations. This world is new for his statement about criminals and redemption in improbable places, but he never stumbles when using this new place and culture for his storyline.
A Reunion We Didn’t Know We Wanted
Statham and Ritchie feel comfortable in a familiar territory that’s not exactly the same as before. It’s all proven through an amusing tone that’s kept from the early beginning of the film, whenJason Statham playsa silly fellow and the members of the audience are pretty clear on what he’s playing. He will reveal what Statham is. Just not instantly.
In this buildup, Ritchie designsWrath of Manto be an entertaining vehicle with a logical story about revenge being best when served as a cold dish. Regardless, when he uses his best resource in the third act, he actually ups the ante with a great action sequence that shows he’s still talented enough to experiment with cameras and angles.
The director makes you feel part of a different style of cinema and not the generic action films that show the star surviving every single shot fired. It wouldn’t work without Statham being part of this revival, as he’s one of the most important action stars in modern cinema. He just needs to get better scripts, that’s all, and Ritchie (always) sounds like the correct guy.
