I Am Wrath

Stanley Hill (John Travolta) is getting picked up at the airport by his wife when they get attacked by men who are apparently violent robbers. His wife is killed. She was a close advisor to the Ohio Governor Merserve. Abbie (Amanda Schull) is their daughter. Stanley picks out the killer in a police lineup but the cops just let him go. He reconnects with Dennis (Christopher Meloni), a man from his secret past.

This is a fine example of the lower budget thriller. It has some interesting actors. It also has the pre-requisite former A-list actor to lead the project. The story is pretty standard although I would change a couple of points. While Travolta does his thing, I'm more surprised with the presence of Meloni. They are a good pairing and this would be a better buddy thriller. They should spend more time together. Otherwise, it's nothing special and nothing bad. It's fine.

I saw Travolta on the poster and without knowing much all I could think of is Charles Bronson in Death Wish. I was close. The movie reminds me of a cross between John Wick and The Punisher (of which Travolta played the villain in the 2004 movie version).

Travolta plays what looks like your average Joe, who watches his wife get murdered right in front of him by what looks like an average car jacking in a city that's been boiling over with violence lately, but it turns out Travolta has a past that was beyond average and goes Liam Neeson on the bad guys.

Though he does not look as good as Neeson lashing out those particular set of skills on his wife's killers (but who does?),Travolta was still fun to watch as he hunted down his foes one by one, and just when he thought he was finish, turned out we have more villains to kill. It was like he was leveling up in a video game, that's how far up it goes.

Travolta himself was more convincing as average Joe wanting vengeance for his wife's death then he was at the dude who could seek this vengeance flawlessly, which is why they kept it light. Helping with this tone is Christopher Meloni who plays the dude Travolta has to call when he gets back in the game. I'm a huge fan of Meloni and he gives a great performance as the guy who has one hand still in the pot while pretending to be a barber. The chemistry of Meloni and Travolta as two old soldiers so jaded by it all that they joke back and forth as they stomp out evil. It's good banter.

This action movie was a great safety net for Travolta, I can't remember the last time I seen him in something decent, and that's what this was, very decent, very watchable from the very beginning all the way to the very end.

So, the worst thing about this movie is John Travoltas wig. Other than that, this is an OK little action thriller.

Nothing new here, nothing special, but it's well directed, the acting is mostly good, the action is pretty decent, all in all OK. Could have done with a tad more character build up from the start, but hey, I just wanted the action.

With just a few tweaks here and there it could have been a lot better. It feels a little bland, a little by the numbers, and like I said, Travoltas wig is not fooling anyone. For Gods sake, just accept that your bald, man! Travolta is a good actor, he always does a decent job, a shame with those horrible wigs.

This is not to be confused with a million other low budget action movies, by crappy directors, starring actors past their prime, like Wesley Snipes, Cuba Gooding, Dolph Lundgren etc, I Am Wrath is a lot better than those. Chuck Russell (The Mask) knows what he's doing.

With a little more flair to the action (although I liked the slo-mo) and without that awful wig, this could have been awesome, instead it's just alright.

The movie begins with news montages about the unprecedented crime wave in Columbus, Ohio. Contrarily, Governor John Meserve (Patrick St. Esprit) gives a press conference and says the opposite: crime is down. When questioned by protestors about a proposed pipeline, Meserve promises that he has commissioned an independent study of the pipeline.

Vivian (Rebecca De Mornay), who has something to say about the proposed pipeline, picks up her unemployed husband Stanley (John Travolta), who has returned from a positive job interview to manage a factory in California. At the diffusely lit and practically unoccupied airport parking garage, a man with a fly tattoo on his face (Charley = Luis Da Silva Jr.) approaches and asks them for money. Stanley politely refuses, but two other men mysteriously sneak up on Stanley and stun him with a blow to the head. The first man fatally stabs Vivian and takes her wallet. Although dazed, Stanley watches the men flee.

With Stanley's description of Charley, the police are able to apprehend him. But even though Stanley picks him out the lineup, the police detectives (Gibson = Sam Trammell / Walker = Asante Jones) let him go. They say that his descriptions changed too much (they didn't). Stanley, despondent and enraged, yearns for revenge. While tracking down the men, Stanley realizes that the fatal mugging was no random attack. There were political forces behind his wife's murder. Now he has bigger fish to fry.

Stanley, with his mercenary past, is well-equipped to get his revenge. He also has an ally in a barber, Dennis (Christopher Meloni). Together these guys are dynamite. But you've seen it all before. The flic borrows from other films, such as "Goldfinger" (car-crush scene) and "Taken" (hostage part). The ending with the last shootout doesn't ring true. And there are questions: for instance, why is Stanley's life spared as he is the only witness to the crime in the garage (and the bad guys lack empathy)? But some may like the fact that the film does not require much brainpower to figure out. Also, both Travolta and Meloni are good and rise above their material, which is not strong despite the plot twists. Christopher Meloni at age 55 is in excellent physical condition; Travolta's hair (including the hairline) is peculiar. The movie was filmed on location in Columbus, Ohio.

"I Am Wrath" feels familiar. There is a trope called "mugging the monster," in which villains mistakenly target somebody with a particular skill set and receive their comeuppances in spades. Usually, the individual is reluctant to rely upon those skills or wants to suppress that part of their life. It was used to introduce Frank's martial arts talents in both "The Transporter" and "The Transporter Refueled." It may be a scene played for comic effect or to round out a character in movies like "Crocodile Dundee," an unexpected wrinkle in movies like "Air Force One," and occasionally the premise of the movie, as in "First Blood," "John Wick" or "A History of Violence." It is perhaps a sort of fantasy fulfillment for anybody who has been victimized. Wouldn't we all like to have the powers and abilities of a superhero, crime lord or kung fu master to turn life's misfortunes to our advantage and simultaneously discourage the criminals and jerks of the world from repeating or continuing their repugnant behavior?

IAW is not terribly original; however, it is competently executed. The villains are suitably sleazy, violent and remorseless. They aren't the vilest lot of malcontents by a long shot, but they provide a suitable level of threat. The plot is familiar, but is only an excuse for the action scenes. There are no car chases, pyrotechnics or extended scenes of unarmed combat, although there are a few brief fights. It's mostly threats followed by gunplay without any elaborate choreography. Production values are adequate, although Travolta's wig is noticeable and distracting.

Travolta has done much better work as a tough guy, notably in Luc Besson's "From Paris with Love." Here he is not given a multi-layered, finely nuanced character and makes little effort to bring new dimensions to a sparsely developed script.

The movie is boosted considerably by a couple of the supporting roles. Christopher Meloni steals his scenes as the sidekick/guardian. Sam Trammell's look of boyish innocence cloaks a dark side to his character.

The script was written by Paul Sloan, who also plays the villain Lemi K, and was originally in development with Nicolas Cage set to star and William Friedkin directing, but somehow that fell through. The script seems a couple drafts short of complete. It feels as if it was written with franchise ambitions. The title, Stanley's tattoo and the buddy relationship with Dennis all scream comic hero series. However, it fails to develop Stanley as a continuing character or to leave him in a situation to continue his vigilantism.

The result is a film that is an entertaining diversion but largely forgettable.