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Does Guy Ritchie even know where his strengths and weaknesses lie as a director?
Yet Ritchie loves to double down on that narrative and dialogue.
He cant seem to tell a story, yet he keeps trying to tell more and more complicated ones.
More on that in a bit.)
Some chasmic gaps in logic aside, thats actually a pretty nifty premise for a crime movie.
Which would lead a viewer to believe that the mans identity will in some way be significant.
No, its meaningless.
Whats more, shot from that perspective, the scene also winds up being totally incoherent.
Theres a fine line between enigmatic and confusing, and he repeatedly bulldozes past it.
As a result, the movie opens with a blast of muddy annoyance.
Ritchie shoots it from a distance, in one take, a sure sign of emotional reserve.
No such nuance exists, however.
Ritchie cant be bothered.
Because, well, she would say that, wouldnt she?
And then, Christ, theres the dialogue.
The writing inWrath of Manisnt just bad.
Sometimes, the words are merely inane: You ever thought about, uh, buying a coffee maker?
one guard awkwardly asks the other in the prelude to that opening heist scene.
You know, the one thats got that froster thing?
Oh yeah, the frother.
That way it’s possible for you to, you know, make your own cappuccino.
Is this supposed to be naturalistic?
Other times, the words are portentous: What has the world come to?
And often the lines are just thuddingly obvious: I dont care what you guys think.
That mans a dark horse, another co-worker helpfully observes about H early on.
Then, a few seconds later, they repeat the line: A dark fucking spirit.
(The films segments are broken into discrete chapters.
The title of this chapter?
A Dark Spirit.)
But one needs more than ideas, and Ritchie keeps failing at the execution.
But Tarantino weaves entire worlds with his dialogue.
Statham manages to escape mostly unscathed, probably because his character is so quiet.
(You aint much for talking, are you, Mary Poppins?)
Its not that Ritchie doesnt have any talent.
He has a great eye and can certainly set a mood.
Hell, I dont even entirely hate Ritchies Sherlock Holmes flicks.
But yet again, the director has overpromised and underdelivered.
He gives the impression of his own worst enemy.
