If you can call seeing two films of late with the word “wrath” in them a “rash” of viewings, then I hope I soon find the ointment.  Actually, the first, The Wrath of Becky (2023), was not that bad if for no other reason than the people dying were white supremacists.  As a Catholic, I do not wish ill on any of my fellow men, but the villains here clearly sought to a great deal of harm to many others.  The word “wrath,” too, is one that Faith would tell you to steer clear of, especially with its Biblical connotations.  Such matters are best left to God for they are bigger feelings than we can ever adequately comprehend.  Today’s wrathful film, Wrath of Man (2021), is of a smaller scale.  Please note this is not a good thing.

Besides the Wrath of Man, what is also not a good thing are armored car robberies.  That is basically the topic of today’s film, and it begins our proceedings.  The two guards inside the vehicle are held up by men dressed as construction workers.  As the loot is being offloaded, violence occurs.  Moments later, not only are the security personnel dead, but two others have been shot, including a dead kid.  Five months pass, and Patrick Hill (Jason Statham) is applying to work as an armored truck worker for the same company, Fortico, that we just saw robbed.  The person who trains him, Haydn “Bullet” Blair (Holt McCallany), takes to calling Patrick “H” since everyone there has a nickname.  Despite H’s impressive background, he is still treated like a rookie, including the inevitable rolling of the eyes by his first partner, the cocky Dave “Boy Sweat” Hancock (Josh Hartnett).  On their first run together, while Bullet makes a pick-up, they get a distress call from the trainer.  Boy Sweat’s inclination is to abandon their partner, but H calmly tells him to do as they ask.  H’s plan is not to hand over the money, but to murder every last one of them.  Everyone is shocked by the efficiency with which he accomplishes this task.  While the manager, Terry (Eddie Marsan), wants to have H undergo the mandatory evaluations following such an incident, the company’s owner wants H back on the job immediately.  At the same time, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) starts making inquiries, but they are put to a stop by Agent King (Andy Garcia).  H is also able to obtain the files of his co-workers and begins making threatening inquiries.  At this point it is evident that there is something more going on with H.  That is because, like “H,” Patrick Hill is an alias.  In this case, he is actually Mason Hargreaves.  He has his own crew that robs armored trucks and other high value targets.  I am not sure how they are able to get away with their activities, but they seem to have some sort of deal worked out with the government.  Aside from these nefarious activities, Mason is also a father.  Months before the fateful heist we see at the beginning, he is taking his son, Dougie (Eli Brown), to a game.  Members of his team are tracking Fortico’s trucks, and he is called upon when one of their number suffers an accident.  Reluctantly, he agrees to cover for them, and would it surprise you to know that where they stop is where the theft takes place?  Dougie is the kid who dies, while Mason is seriously wounded in the incident.  Once Mason comes out of a coma, he has his people track down every possible lead as to who might be responsible for the tragedy.  There is a lot of killing, though with some restraint (for whatever that is worth), but nothing is found.  Citing exhaustion and a lack of credible leads, he is convinced to take a break.  As he does so, we are introduced to those assailants.  They are a group of ex-military personnel who need not all be introduced.  What is clear is that they had fought together, and upon returning home, have decided to turn their skills to ill gain.  We follow them as they start small, but find that their incremental gains, and the long periods between jobs, is not to everyone’s liking.  The member of their crew who is particularly problematic is Jan (Scott Eastwood).  He is constantly questioning the leadership Sergeant Jackson Ainsley (Jeffrey Donovan).  The grumbling is how they move on to armored trucks.  It is Jan who, bucking their planning, murders the security guards and Dougie.  As we have seen to this point, he is the person that Mason is most eager to identify.  Due to the previous lack of results, he determines that it had been an inside job amongst Fortico employees.  This proves to be the case for the next big heist, planned for Black Friday, a day that Sergeant Ainsley has learned from their mole in the company will be when they have the most cash on hand for the entire year.  That mole is Bullet, and on the appointed day he convinces Mason to help.  Mason plays along until everyone is inside the depot where the vehicles congregate.  He makes his move as duffel bags full of money are being loaded onto another truck for their getaway.  In the following chaos, most everyone dies except for Mason, Sergeant Ainsley, Bullet, and Jan.  The latter three escape with the loot, but Sergeant Ainsley is severely wounded.  There are a pair of betrayals with Jan being the one to drive off with the money.  However, because Mason had slipped a phone into one of the bags of cash, he manages to get his wounded self to Jan’s apartment.  Once there, Mason kills Jan, walks away, and leaves the scene for Agent King to investigate.

I am not sure what the significance of Wrath of Man’s ending is because I missed where the connection between Agent King and Mason is explained.  I am also getting a little tired of revenge plots.  Vengeance is an understandable reaction to loss, but it is a perversion of good feelings, like a desire for justice.  We seek these kinds of measures because we perceive a wrong and think we know best how to right that situation.  Only God can know such things, which is why we should leave desires like wrath to God.  To this end, there is a vaguely funny moment after Mason’s first day at Fortico, following the shootings, when he is told he should “retort with a positive attitude” when faced with violence.  It sounds silly in the context of the movie, but it is the sort of reaction God calls us to have.  It is as simple as turning the other cheek, which is Scriptural.  In moments like we seen in the film, it is likely difficult to have that kind of composure.  When someone hits us, we want to hit back.  It is one of the reasons why the path of the saint is a difficult one.  One could also say that it is easy enough for me to recommend restraint when faced with loss like Mason experiences.  It can be done.  When St. Pope John Paul the Great survived an assassination attempt, he went to the cell of his attacker and prayed with him.  Additionally, this has worked in reverse.  St. Maria Goretti’s murderer was present for her canonization in 1950.  What it takes is a forgiving heart, and that is sadly missing in this movie.

Please forgive me for saying that Wrath of Man is not a good movie.  I ask for such forgiveness because I do not want to be mean spirited.  It has a pretty amazing cast, but the material lets them all down.