Bridled Wrath

Bridled Wrath is a 2015 action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Ewan McGregor, Willem Dafoe, Jason Isaacs, Rhys Ifans, Claire Danes, Brad Pitt, Dan Aykroyd and Aidan Gillen. It is a film surrounding a boy who is betrayed by an avaricious politician, rescued by an assassin and trained to become an assassin, becoming determined to avenge himself on his family's murderer.

The film was released in cinemas in February 2015, and was extremely well received by critics and audiences, with praise directed at its action sequences, darkness, score, direction and the performances of McGregor, Dafoe and Isaacs, while criticized for its formulaic dialogue.

Plot
Samuel Blake is having a drink with his friend Liz Bane, when his home is upturned when a group of thugs raid his home in the lower streets of Harlem, and his parents and sisters are all killed. The man at the head of the group, identified only as Mr. Silver, orders that Sam himself be killed, but one of the men unmasks himself and singlehandedly kills all of the men but Mr. Silver, who escapes by car. The man identifies himself to Sam as Spider, and takes him from New York. Mr. Silver has them pursued by motorcyclists, and after a vicious chase through the streets of New York, Spider kills the motorcyclists and they escape via a speedboat, where Spider explains he belongs to a syndicate of assassins called the Black Cloak, where they recruit children and train them secretly to be assassins.

Twenty years later, Brian Fisk is revealed to be responsible, since he is Mr. Silver's superior and is also an ambitious businessman and gang king who intends to empty properties as grounds and homes for his dramatically growing gang - Sam's home was a commodity in such a plan, and his parents objected to being extricated from the house so they were killed. Fisk still struggles to balance his gang activity and his outward credibility as a businessman. He learns that Sam is still alive. Meanwhile, Samuel has been training with the Black Cloak his entire life since his home was upturned - he has been trained in all forms of military combat and espionage, as well as vehicular warfare and stealth.

His only true rival in the group is fellow trainee Sirex, with whom he shares a mutual dislike. Spider has become his personal guardian and the two of them have a deep admiration for one another, and soon Spider introduces him to the leader of the syndicate, identified only as Panther. Panther issues him his first kill, Brock Richards - Sam's dedication is piqued once Panther explains that Fisk is Richards' lieutenant and he was partly responsible for the attack on Sam's home. At the same time, Sirex intends to go out and kill Richards himself in order to discredit Sam as being unable to kill him. Spider warns Panther of this, but Panther allows this because it develops competitiveness and independence among assassins.

However, Sam manages to outthink his rival cunningly by altering his kill's schedule online so that he doesn't appear at the house that Sirex goes for, and Richards' is persuaded to go on a boat trip with his mistress, who is revealed to be Dr. Liz Bane, who has prospered in Sam's absence. Sam goes on to the boat, killing the guards and shooting Richards in the back. On his way out, he sees Dr. Bane and she sees him, and they freeze, but not before Sirex arrives and mistakes Sam for Richards, shooting up the boat while Sam and Dr. Bane escape. Sam disappears, intending to draw Sirex away from her. Dr. Bane is captured by Fisk, who makes her his mistress while investigating her involvement in Richards' murder.

Sirex is humiliated by his failure, since it damages the anonymity of the Black Cloak - Spider and Panther personally chastise him. Sirex is personally excommunicated from the gang, and he vows revenge on Sam. Sam is internally shaken by his encounter with Dr. Bane, and when Spider tells him about Fisk taking her as his new mistress. Furious, he is tempted to kill Fisk, but Spider persuades him that he must first destabalise Fisk's network before he is able to kill him inconsequentially. Spider directs him towards Mr. Victor Keynes, who is Richards' replacement, and orders him to be killed. Meanwhile, Fisk has his new mistress brutally interrogated by Mr. Silver for information about Sam, but she cannot give him information for she has none - she originally believed him to be dead.

Spider departs from Sam when he re-enters New York and bids him luck, and Sam goes to kill Keynes. He sneaks into his apartment and moves to shoot him in the back of the head, before seeing Keynes young son enter the room. Sam hesitates and lowers the gun, reluctant to kill the man, only for Spider to reveal himself and shoot both Keynes and his son, before taking Sam back to face Panther. Panther angrily chastises him for hesitating in an inherently ruthless profession, but Sam defends that he couldn't kill the man in front of his child, and simultaneously couldn't kill the man so he could rid the boy of a father. Panther orders Spider to kill Sam and, when Spider drags him into a room to shoot him, Sam reveals a hidden knife and uses it to kill Spider in self-defence. He moves to then kill Panther, who reveals that Spider's execution of him was a test for the two of them, which Spider clearly failed. Nevertheless, Sam shoots Panther and moves to go kill Fisk.

Fisk, meanwhile, learns that Mr. Silver is in fact a traitor to his gang and has been selling his secrets to his rivals, and therefore kills him, but not before Silver injures him with a bullet to the leg and manages to briefly hold Dr. Bane at gunpoint. Sam invades Fisk's apartment and fights through his gang, killing them all, only to be confronted by Sirex, who wishes to kill him while he is exhausted and avenge himself for his humiliation. Sirex and Sam engage in hand-to-hand combat, and Sam eventually manages to win by breaking Sirex's neck. He moves to confront Fisk in his room, and Fisk holds Dr. Bane at the point of a knife. Fisk confesses to being responsible for Sam's family's murder and that he doesn't care for what he has done. Sam responds by shooting Fisk dead with a bullet to both eyes. He takes Dr. Bane and they escape before the police arrive to discover the carnage.

Sam and Dr. Liz Bane is now living happily, anonymously, in Las Vegas, and it is implied that he and Liz are about to marry. Sam is seen dismantling and disposing of his guns and symbolically abandoning his life as an assassin.

Cast

 * Ewan McGregor as Sam Blake, the hero of the film, whose family is upturned by Brian Fisk and he trains to become an assassin.
 * Spencer Treat Clark as a young Sam Blake
 * Willem Dafoe as Spider, a veteran assassin whose name is completely unknown, who trains Sam into the man he becomes.
 * Jason Isaacs as Brian Fisk, a manipulative and ruthless businessman and gangster, who intends to upturn slums so that they become establishments for his gang.
 * Rhys Ifans as Panther, the figurehead and mastermind of the Black Cloak who eventually becomes Blake's superior, until Blake kills him.
 * Luke Evans as Sirex, Sam's rival as a trainee and a person who intends to stand in his way and prove himself superior to Sam.
 * Claire Danes as Dr. Liz Bane, Blake's childhood friend, who becomes the mistress of Fisk until he rescues her.
 * Brad Pitt as Brock Richards, Fisk's lieutenant who is Blake's first kill for his part in the upturning of his slums.
 * Dan Aykroyd as Mr. Victor Keynes, Fisk's second lieutenant who is Blake's failed kill, since Blake realizes that Keynes has children present and Spider is forced to kill him instead.
 * Aidan Gillen as Mr. Silver, Fisk's bodyguard who is also a man who has been selling Fisk out to his rivals for the promise of safety for his own children.
 * Lion Facioli as Mr. Keynes' son, who is the provocation for Blake's hesitation in killing him.