With summer abound and this year starting to feel like a year for films again, I saw Heat at the Music Box of downtown Chicago. Heat is one of the best films directed by Michael Mann. This nostalgic experience was worth the experience at the Music Box. When it comes to heist films, Heat is one of those thrillers where the risks are high, and the cat and mouse game gets more suspenseful in many ways. Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino are just brilliant in this thriller, and from both being part of the Godfather series, re-experiencing Heat made me feel that both characters meet again but are on different sides.

Heat takes place in Los Angeles in the 1990s. The film gears on professional bank robbers where a mission goes awry. The head of the thieves is Neil McCauley (DeNiro) and his assistant in his heists operations is Chris Shiherlis (played by Val Kilmer). The detective onto their cases is Lt. Vincent Hanna (Pacino). The film takes a toll on both McCauley and Hanna as they both are after each other but also trying to maintain their troubled lives and careers as the case worsens. It is only a matter of time before one or both (cop and criminal) fall into being in much trouble.

In Heat I come to realize that the film is almost at the three-hour mark. The film did not feel like three hours. The puzzles, the shootouts, the case operations all make the time pass and then make one mission go awry, while another needs to be investigated or on surveillance. Pacino and DeNiro’s performances add to the tension and the excitement as both are known to portray characters that are short-fused. With Pacino, his performance reminded me a lot of Scarface (1983), but now he is not the one who is the criminal, he is the one after the criminals, but displays that anger as he did play Tony Montana. Along with DeNiro having the attitude as he did as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976), however DeNiro is still the criminal in Heat.

Overall, this was an experience that was not to be missed. I find that watching these thrillers many years later the big screen feels like a new experience. Especially for those who have not watched Heat before, or who have not watched it in a while. The film is still a thrill ride of crazy shootouts and tension that is a stellar time. Four stars for Heat.

The Courier is a spy and espionage thriller (directed by Dominic Cooke) with structure and deceit. The approach of confidentiality in the film finds its violations (discreetly). The Courier is a true story where it feels the conflicts are setup chronologically. The events that begin to happen one-by-one drives the questions of trust and honesty between the two men who are involved in the espionage of trying to put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis. However, its more about being curious to whose side is Greville Wynne (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) is on.

The Courier gears on the true story of Greville Wynne in the early 1960s in London. Greville Wynne is a businessman and is recruited to be a spy for The Cold War and finds himself in a partnership with a Soviet Officer Oleg Penkovsky (played by Merab Ninidze). Their strategies they begin to implement is to find ways to prevent attacks of terrorism that are nuclear. They ultimately must find a solution to put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis. This leaves Greville to go to Moscow consistently. The further they go with being secretive from the government they work for, there begins to be more dangerous and uncharted territory that both Greville and Oleg may not be able to avoid. The fact that The Courier is based on actual events is where the events become unnerving.

I found myself feeling spellbinding moments as the risks in The Courier continually grow and worsen. That is where the performances are just outstanding along with questioning if there is going to be light for the dangerous territory The Courier crosses. The job of being discreet becomes challenging for Greville and Oleg as many government officials question their behavior. There is also moments of dishonesty and misinterpretations of how risky the job of stopping the Cuban Missile Crisis is. The film leaves a trail of suspense, and I kept asking myself is any of these scenarios going to find resolution or only going to result in danger?

The Courier felt a lot like The Imitation Game (2014). Cumberbatch was also in that and in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). Both films that previously deal with safety in terms of intelligence among the international governments. Cumberbatch’s performance in The Courier defines him as one that is the perfect fit for these real-life government suspense thrillers. He has the authoritative voice, the stature, and the mindset like a government official which he plays so well and portrays them in many realistic ways. His performance in The Courier is a knockout performance.

The Courier is brilliant and directed well. For a film based on real-life events, it holds the attention. The dramatic scenarios and the deceitful elements are engrossing. This is one of those films that many will not want to miss. Cumberbatch is what steals the film for his brilliant performance. Three and a half stars.

Wrath of Man starts with the approach like it is going to be a bank robbing thriller. The main character goes through training to work in a cash truck company of Los Angeles. He falls into some shady situations and handles them (those moments are predictable especially with Jason Statham). He is the character that many do not know what he is truly capable of. For Guy Ritchie, Wrath of Man has the premise like an Oliver stone or Michael Mann thriller, but the approach for the directing is out of focus a generous number of times. Some may expect humor with the action like his recent film The Gentlemen (2020). Do not expect much laughing humor from Wrath of Man.

Jason Statham is H. He is the most dangerous man from a group of former soldiers who had a mission that goes awry. H is someone trying to cover his tracks and work a normal job in the cash truck company, but when an unexpected heist gets out of hand, H’s son is killed. This makes H turn to returning to being the big dog of his crime representation and find the man that killed his son. The film starts off like he is just someone who is skilled to work in a cash truck company. However, the film (quickly) transitions to a different storyline midway through the film.

The movie is attention-grabbing with its violent moments, but it is unexplained. Many of the characters introduced in the beginning start to become part of the heists and evil plans that H starts to build for redemption of his son. The problem is Wrath of Man does not give the audience an understanding explanation of how some of the characters are part of the assassination of his son. The film becomes a free for all to add to its moments of trying to be a blockbuster. Sadly, it was not working for me as well I was anticipating. I am trying to remain positive with this review, but it is not coming easy. Not with the amount of redundancy in the film. The film has the same type of heists, same scenarios, and objectives that are repeated many times to heighten its story. I understand that some want to be a memorable thriller, but the redundancy is where what can be amazing becomes boring.

This one I had some fun moments with this Ritchie thriller, but it did not hold up for me as well as I would have liked it to. With that in mind, I am giving Wrath of Man two and a half stars. For those who are a fan of Statham, it may be worth the time. Do not expect a film like The Gentlemen with laughing moments. This is not the Guy Ritchiefilm many expect.