Directed by Guy Ritchie and based on true historical events, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare follows the story of Operation Postmaster, where the British military recruited a small group of highly skilled soldiers to strike against German forces behind enemy lines during World War II.
Obviously, there have been numerous films that have adapted many true stories and events that happened during World War II but what made this one stand out to me was Guy Ritchie’s involvement. He is a versatile director who has proven that he can deliver some really fun and well-crafted films over the years with his distinctive style, so I was interested to see what he could deliver with this film, especially since it was portraying one of the most crucial military operations in history.
I got the chance to see it at an early screening on April 13th I can happily say that I had an overall great time with this film. While I do not consider this film to be my favorite among Guy Ritchie’s work it’s definitely one of the better films he has released recently that I enjoyed. It’s a fun and mostly satisfying espionage thriller that has a good cast, great humor, well-crafted tension, and technical elements that are very much in Guy Ritchie’s signature style.
The only thing that I feel drags down this film is that it feels tamer, never going fully wild and crazy in comparison to some of Ritchie’s other works. It is uncertain though if this is the result of wanting to stay a bit closer to the true events or if there was possibly studio tampering involved. I lean more towards the latter being the issue because there were a lot of moments in this film that I felt were meant to be way more violent and hilariously over the top but were held back and somewhat cut down. It’s honestly a real shame because the film all around is entertaining as is, though I feel it needed some more creative Guy Ritchie spark when it came to its action and espionage sequences.
But even with its drawbacks there’s still plenty left to enjoy, starting with the ensemble cast that delivers great and fun performances for their respective characters. The biggest standouts though for me were Henry Cavill, Eiza González, and Alan Ritchson who were having an absolute blast with the characters they played.
Henry Cavill has proven that he can be a great actor when given the right material and it was nice to see him taking on a rather unhinged comedic role as Gus March-Phillipps. Similar to his role as Geralt in The Witcher this role felt like the first time in a long time we see Henry break out of that Superman mold he was stuck in for so long and got to display some unrestricted energy, making for an entertaining lead of the ensemble. These are the kind of roles I feel Henry Cavill should be cast in more often because it’s clear that there is so much potential he has in terms of range that hasn’t been utilized lately.
Eiza González as Marjorie Stewart was an absolute knockout with her performance, giving off badass Bond girl energy that was such a delight to watch. She definitely will be an audience favorite for how much presence she brings on screen, offering numerous emotions that make you root for the character from start to end.
The biggest surprise for me though was Alan Ritchson in his lovable and hilarious portrayal of Danish soldier Anders Lassen. He goes all out with this role, giving the most laughs and best action moments of the entire film that honestly overshadow the rest of the characters. Seeing him brutally f**k up Nazis with a bow and arrow was both hilarious and awesome, giving us some of the best action sequences of the film. I wasn’t into him that much as an actor before but I’ll admit he’s been starting to grow on me lately and this film made me want to see him in more projects since he does have great potential talent-wise.
The other cast members are great too but there were a few individuals I felt were severely underutilized, like Henry Golding and Til Schweiger. They deliver good performances as their respective characters but I was left wanting more of them through the film and again it makes me believe that there were supposed to be more scenes with them but were possibly cut out or reduced.
The narrative acts as a simple following of Operation Postmaster with some fictional elements added that are in true Guy Ritchie fashion, but it was fun to watch mainly because of just how well executed the overall tension is for this film. There are so many fantastic scenes of tension littered throughout this film from start to end that had me on the edge of my seat and were given stylish flair that enhanced them, making this a great espionage thriller that almost feels like a James Bond film.
In fact, there are a lot of James Bond elements in this film, which makes sense given that some of these real people and events were the real-life inspiration for Ian Fleming to write his Bond novels. Additionally Ian Fleming himself (portrayed by Freddie Fox) appears in the film as one of the supporting characters that make parts of this film a personal tribute to the man himself. In a way this kind of makes me want to see Guy Ritchie do a take on Bond with Henry Cavill as the lead.
However, there is another film I feel that a lot of people are going to make comparisons with and that is Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds. While this film is more based on true events rather than set in an alternate reality like Inglorious Basterds, there are some notable similarities between the two films in terms of narrative, tone, and style.
For instance, Alan Ritchson’s character is a savage Nazi killer that cuts out the hearts of the Nazis he kills, while some of the characters in Inglorious Basterds collect the scalps of the Nazis they kill. There are several other instances like that within this film but I’m not going to go as far as to say this film majorly rips off everything from Inglorious Basterds, as I feel there are enough differences that set the two apart, along with the fact that Guy Ritchie is known to have a similar directing style to Tarantino but never pushes to any major extremes as Tarantino does with his films.
On top of that this film, while having an R-rating, isn’t insanely hyper-violent like Inglorious Basterds is with its kills and gore. As mentioned before many moments in this film felt like they were meant to be more bloody like some of Guy Ritchie’s previous films but seemingly looked and felt toned down as a result of possible studio meddling.
I honestly would have loved to see a less tamed version of this film because I feel it would have really increased the entertainment levels, especially in the third act which I found to be slightly underwhelming in certain areas. While there are certainly some great action sequences the film has, full of great tension, I wanted more out of them style-wise. I will give it this though, it was nice to see very little use of CGI involved and more heavy uses of practical effects throughout all of the action.
The technical elements are done extremely well, especially when it comes to the clever use of editing, audio, and cinematography. These are the parts of the film I felt were the most Guy Ritchie-involved areas as they enhanced many of the scenes, whether it be in a comedic way or a thrilling way.
Easily one of my favorite technical moments of the film is in one scene involving two characters having a conversation in a crowded public place, but when things get serious in the conversation the audio around them gets drowned out to the point that the only thing we hear is the two characters engaged in an extremely tense conversation that had me on the edge of my seat. Scenes like this are found throughout the film and are very well crafted, reminding every person watching of the wicked talent Guy Ritchie can be capable of when he is given free range.
When it comes to music this is one of the few Guy Ritchie films not to have a soundtrack of songs heavily involved. Instead, it relies mostly on the score by composer and frequent Guy Ritchie collaborator Christopher Benstead. And to be completely honest, Benstead’s score for this film is honestly really solid as I feel it elevates the film style and tone. We do get one lyrical song which is a surprisingly awesome cover of “Mack the Knife” from Eiza González that I thought was brilliant and very well performed.
This film certainly feels like it was restrained in a lot of places but I won’t deny that I still had a great time watching it and it still serves as a good flick that anyone can kick back and enjoy some simple and classic espionage fun. I’m going to give The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare a B = 86.
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