Some Guy Ritchie films , like “The Gentlemen,” are big, sloppy fun, while others, like “Wrath of Man,” (2021) are just big and sloppy. In the latter, the soundtrack heralds a menacing tone that persists as one criminal seeks payback from another. There’s lots of standard Ritchie touches – jumping back and forth in time, the audience never quite knowing whose side anyone is on – but some plot points are dwelled upon while others breeze by confusingly. But the tonal bleakness lacks the comic blackness Ritchie is often able to mine from intramural mayhem. Something’s missing in all this carnage. Humanity?
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Sometimes Melissa McCarthy is too much of a good thing (get it?) but I was laughing out loud just about all the way through “Spy” (2015). I also sometimes become numb to movies that shower me with a 119-minute fusillade of F-bombs, but listening to McCarthy and Rose Byrne rip each other a new one was almost “Sopranos” worthy. It’s a comic retelling of a Bond-like story, with BMWs, helicopters, poisoned drinks and McCarthy’s schtick. The pacing is good and a strong commitment to both the action (arterial spray) and comic (stool softener) genres balance each other (and McCarthy) nicely.
Remember what I said about “The Expendables” trumpeting an era of video-game-style movie violence? Well, “The Expendables 2” (2012) is the same thing all over again, except Sylvester Stallone didn’t even try to come up with an interesting subplot this time. The all-star team from Action Hero Retirement Home (Holy shit! Chuck Norris!) takes a testosterone ride to some godforsaken locale for a mercenary mission that comes with a side order of righteous revenge. As before, people don’t just die, they go down in a hail of bullets and a mist of arterial spray. That’s all you need to know.
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