SummaryBased upon recently declassified files of the British War Department and inspired by true events, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is an action-comedy that tells the story of the first-ever special forces organization formed during WWII by UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and a small group of military officials including author I...
SummaryBased upon recently declassified files of the British War Department and inspired by true events, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is an action-comedy that tells the story of the first-ever special forces organization formed during WWII by UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and a small group of military officials including author I...
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is everything you want in a movie: the fight scenes are bloody and exciting, the dialogue is tongue-in-cheek, every joke landed, and not one actor felt out of place.
A throwback WWII men-on-a-mission adventure marinated in modern bloodlust and movie references, this particularly pulpy take on a Dad Cinema staple couldn’t be more violent and more derivative of past works. It also couldn’t be more of a blast to watch if you enjoy a certain strain of carbon-dated derring-do mixed with cheeky carnage.
Movie was a lot of fun with some great characters I would love to see it transition too a series similar to what happened to Guy Richie's other movie the gentleman
As another one of the director’s mid-budget, mid-level crowd-pleasers, it mostly works – well-made enough to distract in the moment but not quite enough to last in the many after, unlikely to catapult him to the top or sink him to the bottom.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare would seem to be an almost ideal project for Ritchie—which is why its lethargy comes as such a dispiriting surprise.
As unlikely as it plots, this is actually based on true events from Winston Churchill's own declassified files. During WWII, 5 men were sent on an unofficial mission to destroy a **** boat that carried vital supplies. This rouge group (led by Henry Cavill) is mercilessly fierce and their techniques are brutal. At least that's what we see in an early slaughter before the story moves into too much plotting and chatter. Even after enduring all the prep and minor setbacks, the final encounter features lots of guns, explosions and kills with little of director Guy Ritchie's usual violent visual flair. As a historical recreation, it's a fascinating story, but as entertainment, there aren't many of Ritchie's comic touches and the action is broad and uninspired.
It tries to be a period piece that's good. I guess. The acting and plot is dried and dull. It wasn't much fun and certainly wasn't exciting. Snooze-fest.
This is now my THIRD attempt* at (daring to -- ) write a NEGATIVE review of the much-anticipated Guy Richie film -- THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE.
I was really looking forward to this film. I'm a great student of World War II (my father having served stateside during the period), and many of the films on my all-time fav list are epics such as PATTON (1970) and A BRIDGE TOO FAR (1977).
On the positive side, the film has some breathtaking locations and fairly decent casting in the leads: Henry Cavill and Alan Ritchson both, in the true self-satisfied-spirit of the entire film, do a handy job of chewing up the scenery.
(Babs Olusanmokun, however, practically sleepwalks through the role -- a cardboard cutout could almost have been substituted with equal effect.)
The biggest problem with the film is the pacing -- the action sequences (which are all pretty much already in the trailer) take FOREVER to get to -- a fact made all the more excruciating by the tiresome, poorly written dialogue sequences.
(At times, it actually sounds like the actors are ad-libbing, only more in the spirit of "get it over with" than offering anything genuine.)
Film scores are many times one of my favorite elements of a successful film, however, the score by Christopher Benstead seems very repetitive, with maybe only three key themes being used (the "faux cocktail" theme being the one I remember as most grating on my patience -- being constantly used to try to artificially amp up the tension in the interim.)
Although I usually stay for the full credits on theatrical releases, I was so exhausted and disappointed that I walked out as the "faux Morricone" theme began to play . . .
HIGHLY UN-RECOMMENDED.
* NOTE: Both my Rotten Tomatoes and Google reviews were pulled down for mysterious reasons -- apparently they mortally offended the LionsGate Marketing Department. (SOLUTION: Make better movies!)