Wrath of Man, You Can Actually See it in Theaters

Armored car robberies are not just the stuff of viral videos from South Africa. They happen in the lawless land of Los Angeles too, where they have a much higher mortality rate. At least that was true of the heist that led to the collateral killing of Patrick Hill’s son. Unlike his boy, Hill is a man accustomed to danger, so he has no problem risking his life to find the gang and the inside man responsible in Guy Ritchie’s Wrath of Man, which is now playing in real-life brick-and-mortar movie theaters, even in New York City.

We do not initially know Hill’s full backstory. Ritchie and co-screenwriters Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies (adapting a 2004 French film) will reveal that over time. Hopefully, you do not mind flashbacks, because Ritchie frequently rewinds to fill in gaps and provide new perspective. However, we can tell by the fact Jason Statham plays Hill that he is one bad cat. Sure, he just slid by with a 70% on his firearms qualifying test at Fortico Security, but we have a hunch he was holding back.

Hill’s instructor-teammate “Bullet” dubs him “H,” because he is apparently in charge of nicknames. Their driver “Boy Sweat Dave” doesn’t really take to the new recruit, but even he is impressed when Hill takes down a team of six armed robbers more-less single-handedly. It is like he was waiting for such an attack, because he was, but they weren’t the right gang. H will keep digging, with the tacit encouragement of a senior FBI agent known simply as “The King,” who is happy to let Hill do all the dirty work.

When he isn’t shifting back-and-forth along the timeline, Ritchie stages some gleefully over-the-top shootouts. It is all really slick and loud, except Jason Statham, who as Hill, mostly talks in hoarse whispers. Of course, he has total credulity strutting, punching, and shooting his way through the film. Frankly, the villains are pretty disappointing, to the point of even being offensive when their true identities are finally unmasked. Fortunately, a large cast of colorful supporting players mostly compensates, notably including Holt McCallany as Bullet, Eddie Marsan as Terry (the Fortico business manager), and the great Andy Garcia, calming swimming through the chaos like a shark, as the King.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

Is there a weirder term getting bandied about by the agenda-driven media than “toxic masculinity?” What’s so bad about men being manly? (It’s a rhetorical question.) That is why the world needs some testosterone-driven blockbusters every so often. If you find masculinity toxic than head to your “safe space” when The Rock, Jason Statham, and Idris Elba crash cars and jaw at each other in David Leitch’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, which opens today around the world.

What’s this film about? It’s about two hours and fifteen minutes. What more were you wondering about? Luke Hobbs is a Los Angeles G-Man. Deckard Shaw is a UK spy turned freelancer. They have worked together before, but they were never chummy. Much to their mutual consternation, the CIA has recruited them both to work as a team tracking down a misplaced mega-virus.

The case will be personal for Shaw, because his sister, MI6 agent Hattie Shaw was framed for the theft of the “Snowflake” virus and the murder of the rest of her recovery team. The real villain is Brixton Lore, whom Shaw also has some history with. The last time he saw Lore, he shot him once in the head and twice in the heart, but somehow, a shadowy eugenics organization managed to save the turncoat agent. Thanks to their enhancements and programming, Lore is now a bionic super-powered cyborg-hybrid.

Blah, blah, blah, whatever. The plot here is just an excuse for Hobbs and Shaw to talk smack to each other and engage in some large-scale smack-downs. Everything is big here, particularly the action sequences. Frankly, the early F&F movies seem downright quaint and intimate by comparison. Remember, it all started with Paul Walker’s character going undercover to bust a crew hijacking truckloads of consumer electronics. From there, we somehow reached the Rock fighting armored villains as he freefalls off a London skyscraper.

Of course, this all plays to the strengths of The Rock. He really has massive screen charisma, which easily shines through all the explosions and wildly over-the-top stunts. He also develops some solid comic timing trading mother insults with Jason Statham. Taking on the squintier, flintier, Eastwood-esque role, Statham manages to be cool and keep his head above all the surrounding madness as the more grounded Shaw. As an added bonus, Vanessa Kirby shows off some impressive action chops of her own, as Hattie Shaw.

As a bad guy demanding imposing physicality and neurotic angst, Lore is definitely dead solid in Elba’s wheelhouse, sort of like the Luther of supervillains. As an added bonus, Dame Helen Mirren clearly enjoys playing Ma Shaw, who is definitely her grown children’s mother. F&F: H&S also boasts two uncredited big-name cameos. One is pretty embarrassing, while the other is take-no-prisoners funny. Fortunately, the latter gets more screen time, including a curtain call during the closing credits.

Instead of Vin Diesel’s brothers-from-different-mothers “family” talk of the other Furious films, Hobbs & Shaw are all about traditional family values—and saving the world. It isn’t phony. In fact, The Rock has an affinity playing action heroes who are also engaged parents (as in the somewhat under-appreciated Skyscraper). The formula still works here, but it would have been even more effective if the bedlam were a little more grounded. Recommended for fans of the stars and the franchise, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw opens today (8/2), just about everywhere, including the AMC Empire in Midtown.

Mechanic: Resurrection—Jason Statham Won’t Stay Dead

Ever wondered about the cost of replacing dead henchmen? Presumably, some sort of settlement must be provided to the next of kin. Plus, it would be awkward interviewing replacements: “Can you tell me why my predecessor wanted to leave your shadowy organization?” “He didn’t want to. He was impaled with a harpoon and pulled through shark-infested waters.” “Well, that’s fine then.” There are many, many occasions for such speculation when Jason Statham cuts down minor accomplices like Judge Judy slicing through weak excuses in Dennis Gansel’s Mechanic: Resurrection (trailer here), which is now playing in New York.

The ninety-three minutes of Mechanic 1 basically boil down to Arthur Bishop was a mob assassin, specializing in hits that look like natural causes, who faked his own death. He is now living the good incognito life in Rio, until he is tracked down by representatives of Riah Crain, an international arms dealer. Bishop knows Crain only too well, so he wants no part of the three hit jobs he is offered. Not to be deterred, Crain’s people force the innocent Gina Thorne to act as bait in the honey trap they intend to set for Bishop. Of course, he sees through their clumsy scheme, but he still falls for Thorne, so they just kidnap her back to force Bishop to do their bidding.

As we would expect, each target is ridiculously inaccessible, forcing Bishop to take extreme measures (as seen on the one-sheet). However, his third target, Max Adams the Bulgarian-based arms dealer to underdogs and lost causes might be a sleaze ball he can forge an alliance with.

So yeah, you basically know what you are getting here. It is more or less on par with most Jason Statham action movies (better than some, not as good as others). The only real disappointment is Michelle Yeoh does not have a fighting role. Instead, she just glides in periodically as Mae, Bishop’s old pal and the hostess with the mostess of his favorite Thai scuba resort.

Frankly, the real weak link here is Jessica Alba, who as Thorne, mostly just bites her lip and acts passive. In contrast, Thai star Yayaying Rhatha Phongam (recognizable from Only God Forgives) shines in her action scene as Crain’s courier (her role definitely should have been expanded). Sam Hazeldine is just okay as Crain, but Tommy Lee Jones absolutely devours the scenery as crafty old Adams.

It is hard to get why Resurrection was hidden away from critics. It would not have received rave reviews by any stretch, but it is pleasantly presentable. Gansel (who previously helmed The Wave and We Are the Night), keeps things moving along and soaks up the exotic backdrops as much as he can. Action fans should find it an enjoyable trifle, but they can safely wait for DVD or Netflix streaming. For now, it is screening nationwide, including the AMC Empire in New York.

Wild Card: Statham Happens in Vegas

It is not exactly a critic’s dream come true, but it rises to one of our frequent challenges. We often lament studios remake classic movies, making them considerably worse, rather than redoing and hopefully improving less than great films. That sort of happens here when Jason Statham steps into a role originated by Burt Reynolds. It’s already sounding better, isn’t it? In fact, Statham is much more convincing as the lethal bodyguard with a gambling problem in Simon West’s Wild Card (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Like the somewhat notorious 1986 film Heat, Wild Card was adapted by screenwriter William Goldman from his own novel. On the screen, it follows much the same structure, but off-screen, hopefully there will be far less litigation. Nick Wild has an uneasy truce with the mafia. He stays on good terms with the mega-connected Baby, but for the most part, he does not bother them and they do not bother him. Most of his jobs are a little demeaning, like babysitting nickel-and-dime gambler Cyrus Kinnick, but he keeps hoping to hit it big at the tables and run off to Corsica (it was Venice before).

This equilibrium is disrupted when a visiting gangster brutalizes Holly, a prostitute Wild was formerly involved with. She wants him to get the creep’s name, so she can pursue legal action. However, Wild wants no part of anything connected to the Golden Nugget, which must be thrilled to be so explicitly identified as a mobster resort. Of course, as a good guy, Wild can’t help himself. Despite his hesitation, he lays quite a beating on the entitled Danny DeMarco and his henchmen and facilitates their further humiliation at Holly’s hands. From there, one thing leads to another.

Wild Card has a handful of spectacular fights (choreographed by Cory Yuen), sprinkled throughout long stretches of compulsive gambling and macho brooding. The gimmick for Wild (or Nick “Mex” Escalante as he was once known) is his facility for using commonplace items, such as credit cards and poker chips, as deadly weapons. Needless to say, this works so much better with Statham than Reynolds. Dominik García-Lorido (Andy Garcia’s daughter in the excellent Lost City and in real life) and Stanley Tucci also represent considerable upgrades as Holly and Baby, respectively. Indeed, the casting is nearly perfect this time around. Unfortunately, the Kinnick character still gums up the works with his unnecessary subplot.

Unlike the previous film’s revolving door-battery of directors, West keeps Wild Card moving along at a decent clip, even though it is more about gambling and gangster power games than action, per se. He also maintains a relatively upbeat mood, nicely underscored by some classic licensed blues and R&B tunes from artists like Magic Slim, Albert King, and Charles Brown. It still isn’t perfect but it is better, which is something. You could even say it’s not bad—but nowhere near Statham’s best work in The Bank Job and Redemption. For fans of old school Vegas, Wild Card opens this Friday (1/30) in New York.

Redemption: Statham Hits London’s Mean Streets

It is not exactly “Garbo Talks,” but as hooks go, “Statham Cries” is pretty good.  The action star’s big close-up comes in the right vehicle.  In a throwback to the angry young anti-hero films Michael Caine cut his teeth on, Statham prowls the mean streets of London in screenwriter-director Steven Knight’s Redemption (trailer here), which opens this Friday in select cities.

Haunted by his war crimes, a shell-shocked former Special Forces soldier lives a homeless existence to evade a certain court martial.  Deeply traumatized by his experiences, he often suffers from flashbacks and hallucinations.  Terrorized by local thugs, “Joey” finds unlikely refuge in an exclusive hipster flat.  Unfortunately, his companion Isabel is captured and consigned to a low-end brothel. 

Using the resources of his unwitting host (conveniently abroad for the season), Joey cleans himself up and takes work as an enforcer for a Chinese crime syndicate.  With the reluctant help of inner-city mission nun Sister Cristina, Joey Jones (as he now calls himself) tries to track down Isabel.  Yet, despite his erratic behavior, a strange relationship develops between them.

Granted, the “troubled” vet is always a problematic device.  However, the film is rather sensitive in its depiction of Joey Jones, while never absolving him of his sins.  There are definitely beatdowns in Redemption, but the film is more concerned with mood and character development.  Knight demonstrates a keen understanding of tension-and-release, so when the violence flares up, it never feels gratuitous.

Clearly, Oscar winning cinematographer Chris Menges loves the neon lights and shadows of Redemption’s nocturnal world, getting all the Miami Vice he ever had in him out of his system.  The film looks great, aside from a few awkward scenes of Jones’ delirium.  Statham is also surprisingly good as Jones, convincingly portraying his violent unpredictability.  Viewers are never quite sure how he will react in a given situation, which is a major reason why Redemption works so well.

Statham also shares some richly intriguing chemistry with Agata Buzek (the daughter of former Polish Prime Minister and Solidarity activist Jerzy Buzek), whose intelligent but tightly wound performance adds significant depth to the film.  The notion that Jones and Sister Agata are sharing a mutual “wild patch” in their lives may not exactly ring true, but it still works within the film’s dramatic context.

Knight nicely maintains the tragic logic throughout Redemption, but the NSA-ish surveillance motif book-ending the proper narrative feels wholly out of place in his street level tale.  Nonetheless, Redemption is a stylishly executed over-achiever that is only really missing the Roy Budd-inspired soundtrack.  Recommended for fans of Statham and old school payback movies, Redemption opens this Friday in New York at the Village 7.