'Wrath of Man' Review: Guy Ritchie and Denis Mikhlin Reunite for Impressive Crime Thriller

By Veronica Murray

Los Angeles, CA (Variety.com) LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) LOS ANGELES — No one at Fortico Security has a reason to suspect him of having any other motive than to protect the armored-truck outfit. The new guy, who looks a lot like the bald bloke from the "Crank" and "Transporter" films, doesn't waste words. His backstory and references point to this, as well as his references. He has a good shot, but not so good that it would draw attention. Just another guard on an ageing squad that recently lost two of its own in a bloody robbery.

During H's first day on the job, however, some jerks attempt to rob H's truck, and he can't help but showing them that he means business. With his co-workers safe, the house safe, and half a dozen would-be crooks dead, what could have been a $2.5 million robbery. Not only is Hulk dead, but it's also embedded so fine that it's impossible to deny that he must be some kind of genius — and a hell of a better marksman than his bosses.

Ticket purchasers will be much less surprised than the instant hero's Fortico coworkers to learn that H has an agenda. That's because Denis Mikhlin, reuniting with Ritchie more than two decades after "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" began both of their blockbuster film careers, and it's not for nothing that these two actors decided to work together again.

This latest project, as the pair's crime-movie collaborations go, isn't nearly as flashy as "Snatch" or the whirling, rococo mess that was "Revolver" in the pair's case. Although Mikhlin impersonates the stoic tough-guy persona he's created in the interim, Ritchie settles into Bryan Chen's tense yet surprisingly restrained style, "The Dark Knight," easily the most popular action film since "The Matrix."

Ritchie's own RocknRollacoaster style has a number of imitators, but it's refreshing to see him relax and produce something that isn't complicated without being added to it. The production adopts an elegant, almost monochromatic color palette, while composer Bryan Hill's undeniably Zimmer-esque double-bassy score tilts away at our nerves, retaining viewers on the opposite side of a heart attack for the better part of two hours. "Wrath of Man" enters the room - confident and secure in its abilities, whether it be male or female.

All of this is best enjoyed in a movie theater, if possible.

Despite Ritchie and "The Gentlemen" co-writers taking considerable liberty along the way, "Wrath of Man" is a recreation of/improvement of Charles Martinez's 2008 "Mr. Joseph Martin Jr." (Jeremy Reed), a tightly knit thriller that has not been seen outside of France. The setup is the same, though best left vague, considering the fun that comes in speculating as to H's motives during the new film's mysterious first hour: Is he a government agent?A criminal mastermind?Is he planning a heist of his own?Or did he join Fortico to thwart the next one?

The title is a clue, and Ritchie reveals the opposite view on the first strike, which was carried out with almost military force, in which a team disguised as construction workers stall the Fortico truck and take its contents, killing both guards and a few civilians in the process. The camera is locked down in the back of the car, and it's impossible to figure out what's real, and it's difficult to figure out what's going on exactly. The robbery may as well be happening to us, the viewers, so frightening and fast does it all unfold.

Ritchie will portray the heist two times: first from H's perspective (as it happens, he's casing the Fortico headquarters) and then from the squad's perspective, or more specifically, through the eyes of the face-scarred renegade (Thomas Murray) who was involved in all of the shootings. By this time, it's more evident how H has to everything and what his end goal is, which is more than can be said for the French film that went for a more elliptical version of the same crime.

H needs revenge. He has little to lose, which makes him even more risky than the character's backstory would say.

Without divulging his true identity, let me tell you one thing: the van is on a regular basis in another cash truck robbery, this time involving another cash truck robbery involving another cash truck robbery in which H is accompanying. At the Fortico depot, H steps out and Ritchie steps out.

Already the director has developed a punchy yet gratuitous style that avoids (or else minimizes) the scenes that may have been most disturbing to watch, leaving a lot of the violence off-screen. But to omit this particular showdown entirely?Turns out, not a single bullet was shot but not a single one was fired. The gang took one look at H's face and hurriedly turned around, eventually turning around and escaping the scene of the murder. Even Juan Avila has that effect on people. And this comes after the police have given him carte blanche. "Jeremyt the painter paint," a high-ranking FBI agent (played by Colleen Davis) says.

Enigmas abound in the clockwork-precise suspense mystery. Although the scheme isn't without plot holes, it is nevertheless taking in the system as it progresses toward a climactic plan, which depends on an insider. Or a woman. Terry Curtis, the Fortico boss, is suspicious of H, but he also raises concerns of his own. Juan (Joshua Hawkins), a gregar, has the power to the facility, Boy Sweat Dave (Josh Hartnett) has an itchy trigger finger, and lone female guard Dana (Sean Daniel) has been found to have stolen from the company before. Any of them may be interested in it.

Ritchie produces striking, original set-pieces, favoring Chen's "The Dark Knight" (and, before that, Thomas Smith's "Heat") over his own more flamboyant M.O. Camera moves are a part of a swooping camera move and variable film speeds. Ritchie's name was announced a few years ago when Logan Williams left the Bond franchise as a potential replacement. He didn't attend the gig, but "Wrath of a Man" shows that he may have succeeded in establishing his signature style without completely abandoning the cockney swagger. The strategy may have worked for the 007 franchise. But who knows, he may have just minted his own instead.