The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Let me start with the positives.

Like most Guy Ritchie films, the ensemble has great chemistry. Henry Cavill doesn't disappoint, he keeps the pace going and interactions between everyone fun to watch. Alan Ritchson does great as a force of nature, dude is built like a tank. Babs Olusanmokun is slick, he has a very smooth demeanor to his performance. Lastly, Eiza Gonzalez is absolutely beautiful, however her performance was hit or miss for me. But she hit more than she missed.

Now, the negatives.

The movie doesn't feel like it was even made by Guy Ritchie. Instead it feels like someone else were trying to make a "Guy Ritchie" film.

I would watch it again, but it is not in my recommendation list if I were to convince someone to get into Guy Ritchie films.

It has been awhile since I have seen something so predicable.

It felt like the script had been copied from the standard WW2 movie then all the quality suspense, excitement and character development which is normally in these movies replaced with vague attempts at humour and actors which feel like they are all running on idle.

There are so many good actors in this which could carry almost any movie but they have such a bad script to work.

The whole production feels like it is missing 95% of a good script to the point I am not sure they even had one and didn't just wing it and hope to put something together in editing, though as the actors deliver so poorly I assume they must be following a script.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is directed by Guy Ritchie and stars Henry Cavil. It is (very) loosely based on a true story of a British WW2 covert operation called 'Operation Postmaster'. And the film is advertised as a 'Spy Action Comedy'....

I have to admit I'm not a huge Guy Ritchie fan (except for the Sherlock Holmes movies, which Robert Downey Jr. Really brought alive). And the fact that they messed around with what was already a totally remarkable TRUE story, I find strange. Personally, I would have much preferred a straight up historical action / drama / thriller than what is essentially an over the top gorefest. This is as much a WW2 movie as 'Overlord' (think zombies on D-Day). Stranger is that they show the true actual heroes at the end of the movie, goodness knows what their families think of being linked to this fantasy.

It's really not awful, it's a mindless action romp with a huge body count. As some have noted, the dialogue is smug and annoying in equal measure. The shots of sets and extras are all done well though and as you can see from the extremes of the reviews it is the kind of film to polarise opinion.

I enjoyed it, but was just disappointed it veered so far away from what is actually a truly remarkable historical event. But the fashion at the moment seems to be away from this type of movie making.

6/10.

As a fan of both Henry Cavill and Guy Ritchie, I was thrilled to find an early access showing of this movie at a nearby theater.

Ungentlemanly Warfare looked to be a good time, and indeed it is! It's a neat story and they made the telling of it fun. Thankfully it isn't goofy. It's not nonstop jokes, but it has a good sense of humor and I heard a good bit of chuckling in the theater throughout the movie, much of it coming from myself.

You can tell Cavill had fun with this role. He shows off some range as his character is very different from the brooding muscle man that many people associate him with. It was delightful watching him do comedy. I haven't seen much of Alan Ritchson's work, but it was easy to see why he has such a growing fanbase. He's the muscle in this movie and proves to be a great action star. The whole cast is great and they give us a lot of fun characters.

Action-comedies seem to be Guy Ritchie's specialty. He maintains a good balance of action and comedy and works so well with large casts as he lets every character feel like they matter to the story.

It's basically the same premise as Tarantino's movie - get a cast of outcasts and go and mow through hordes of nazis.

Where Tarantino's version had some nuance, and bad guys actually had some sort of personality, motivation, and charm, here it feels like a Call of Duty game, where NPCs are just standing there, waiting to be shot by the main character.

The only redeeming qualities are - it's apparently based on a true story, the cast is good, and it's a technically competent execution.

If you need a mindless action movie - you might enjoy it, but it's far from the best work of Guy Ritchie, and quite honestly - sad to see the bar has fallen so low for him.