Movie Review: I am Wrath (2016)

Synopsis: Twenty years after he retired as a black ops agent, Staley witnesses his wife's murder. When the police refuse to arrest one of the killers, calling him an unreliable witness, he and his former partner, Dennis, seek to get justice themselves and discover a conspiracy that goes all the way up to the governor.

Who's in it? The movie stars John Travolta, Christopher Meloni, Amanda Schull, Sam Trammell and Asante Jones.

Review: I came across this film a few weeks ago and added it to my streaming library. I wanted a movie to watch yesterday evening and, since it looked interesting, my wife and I gave it a try. Overall, it was a good choice.

I think the thing I liked best about this movie is how it managed to keep things simple. Too many action movies make their plots overly complicated and are forced to spend too much time on exposition instead of actual action. This movie, in comparison, had just enough downtime between the action to fill the viewer in on the basic details (who the bad guys were, for example) without getting bogged down.

I also liked how the movie stayed upbeat. Some films like this tend to take themselves a bit too seriously. It's fine to have the hero grieve someone they loved but, if it becomes the central focus of the film, it might as well be a regular drama rather than an action movie. In particular, Travolta's and Meloni's chemistry made Stanley and Dennis believable as former long-time partners.

I am even going to admit, I liked the ending more than I expected. I'm a little bit surprised Stanley took on the governor by himself without some sort of escape plan but the later scene at the hospital worked well enough for me to overlook that.

Final Opinion: This is an entertaining and fun movie. There are probably others out there that are better but this is still worth taking the time to watch at least once.

My Grade: A