Guy Ritchie’s revenge thriller emphasizes action and intrigue over character, so it's fortunate that he's stacked the cast with charismatic actors who bring these underwritten characters to life.
In his English-language remake of Nicolas Boukhrief's 2004 Le Convoyeur with Jean Dujardin, Ritchie relocates the story to an unspecified urban American milieu, so it takes a while to figure out that it's Los Angeles, since sunshine, palm trees, and clear skies are in short supply (he also ladles a ponderous score over every scene). Filming took place in LA and London, adding to the ambiguity, since some of the British actors, like Eddie Marsan, struggle with the accent.
Since this is his fourth go-round with the director, Jason Statham has no such problem because his character, Patrick "H" Hill, is British. At the outset, he applies for a job as an armored car driver. Finding his credentials in order, Fortico manager Terry (Marsan) sets him up with "Bullet" (Mindhunter's Holt McCallany), an affable sort tasked with determining his fitness for the job.
After he passes the test, which includes target practice, Terry welcomes him into the fold, where he's paired with Bullet and the squirrelly Sweat Boy Dave (Josh Hartnett). Ritchie then scrambles the timeline to explain what drew this taciturn fellow to this particular gig. As it turns out, H falsified his credentials. Until recently, he was an armed robber, but when the member of a competing crew kills his teenage son for witnessing a heist, H turns vigilante. By entering the armored car field, he aims to track down the masked killer and take his revenge. If his colleagues are cool to him at first, they change their tune after he foils a robbery.
Ever the maximalist, Ritchie has him kill over a dozen bad guys, even if one or two would've been sufficient—though even Bullet wonders if he might be a psychopath. Ritchie proceeds to wait until the midway point to introduce Jackson (Burn Notice's Jeffrey Donovan), leader of the crew that killed H's son. They plan to infiltrate Fortico's armory in order to swipe their earnings and then disappear to live off the ill-gotten gains. The scheme serves a dual purpose in allowing H to identify his target and to bring his plan to a close.
If Statham is a more skilled actor than his action-oriented filmography would indicate, particularly in Roger Donaldson’s underappreciated The Bank Job, he has only one mode here, and it's not his fault. The screenplay from Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson, and Marn Davies doesn’t allow for any complexity, which hampers the film, because he comes off as more of a killing machine than a thinking, feeling human being. Ritchie clearly prefers the action set pieces, the project's real raison d’etre. Ultimately, Bullet emerges as the most interesting character, because he's also hiding his true identity. Combined with his work in Michael Mann's Blackhat, Wrath of Man proves that Holt McCallany is more than ready to topline his own action thriller. A strong optional selection.