With Black Widow heading to July, the summer movie season officially begins tomorrow with the arrival of Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham’s action revenge thriller Wrath of Man! Check out my review…

Twenty-three years after exploding on the scene together with the runaway hit Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, which was followed by Snatch in 2000 and Revolver in 2005, director Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham are finally back together after a sixteen-year hiatus, doing what they do best in what is easily their darkest and most brutal collaboration yet, Wrath of Man.

**This review contains mild spoilers for Wrath of Man**

The film, a remake of 2004’s Le Convoyeur (Cash Truck), is split into four distinct chapters, with the first segment picking up at around the midway point of the actual story. We’re taken through Fortico Securities’ extensive training process, which results in the hiring of a mysterious and seemingly average new employee named H (Statham), who is brought in following a devastating attack on one of their armored cash trucks that claimed the lives of two of their drivers and a civilian.

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. H isn’t looking for answers, he’s simply looking to put a bullet through the perpetrators’ heads.

There is more than meets the eye with H, something the film very deftly reveals over time. With each passing moment, the mystery surrounding him intensifies, with his fresh-faced colleagues in awe of his tactical precision and his enemies fearful at the mere sight of him. While he’s easy to root for, he’s certainly not the usual gangster with a heart of gold that you typically see depicted in a Ritchie film. This guy is the boogeyman personified, hunting down dangerous prey that doesn’t reveal itself until the final act when the film transitions into a quasi-heist feature.

Like his recent efforts King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Aladdin, and The Gentleman, this film once again allows Ritchie to reinvent himself as a director while still holding on to the trademark style and flair that moviegoers have come to expect from the increasingly versatile filmmaker. However, unlike his past ventures, there’s very little levity to be found here, as he opts for a no-nonsense approach that slowly but surely establishes Wrath of Man as his darkest, most chilling film yet.

With impressive camera work from cinematographer Alan Stewart and a wonderfully menacing score from Oscar-winner Christopher Benstead, Ritchie utilizes every tool at his disposal to craft a pulse-pounding gorefest that will keep you glued to the edge of your seat.

While his crowd-pleasing roles in the Fast and Furious films and The Meg have earned him well-deserved box office success, Jason Statham is absolutely back in his element here and delivers arguably his best performance since his comedic turn in 2015’s Spy – although this is understandably on the opposite end of the spectrum.

He’s relentlessly intense throughout and manages to say more with just his eyes than many actors could with pages of dialogue.

The supporting cast all get moments to shine, with Holt McCallany (Mindhunter; Nightmare Alley) proving to be very effective in his role while Josh Hartnett (Most Wanted; Lucky Number Slevin) quickly demonstrates why Ritchie was eager to work with him again on his next project.

The villains, played by Scott Eastwood (The Fate of the Furious; Pacific Rim: Uprising), Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice; Fargo), and Laz Alonso (The Boys; Fast & Furious), among others, do fall somewhat short as Ritchie attempts to humanize them late in the game with a subplot that doesn’t really end up working since this is ultimately H’s story and their fates are seemingly preordained.

Andy Garcia (Ocean’s Eleven; The Godfather Part III) and Rob Delaney (Deadpool 2; Mission: Impossible 7) also show up and waste no time in making themselves feel right at home in a Ritchie film, with the former’s appearance possibly laying the groundwork for a potential follow-up.

Wrath of Man is a winning effort from Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham, featuring the extraordinary action star at his most unstoppable as he goes scorched earth on anyone that stands in his way.

A dark and chilling tale highlighted by some of the best action sequences of the year and one of the most haunting scores in recent memory, this is not to be missed.