Movie Review: Ungentlemanly Warfare

I honestly have little care for war movies as entertainment because it's pretty obvious that real wars, as we're seeing now in the Middle East, are anything but entertaining. There have been some that stand out for the stories told, though, so I can't throw too much sand on pictures like Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, or Full Metal Jacket despite the brutality of the environment shown. Having heard it was based on real people, I wasn't sure if The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was going to be a brutal look at war or more like Inglorious Basterds, but I gave it a shot on a Wednesday night.

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Guy Ritchie, the Ritchie-directed film was based on the 2014 book Churchill's Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII by Damien Lewis, but the story told by Ritchie and his screenwriters is a largely fictionalized tale of this group of "desperadoes". Clearly, there's a story to be told here, but how far off the source material would Ritchie stray with his story?

Taking place during World War II, the story centers around a group of soliders who engaged in Operation Postmaster, a secret sabotage mission meant to ruin the Nazis' U-boat resupply operation, for the English armed forces. Brigadier Colin Gubbins, played by Cary Elwes, sends SOE agents Marjorie Stewart, played by Eiza González, and Richard Heron, played by Babs Olusanmokun, by train to Fernando Po to begin the operation. However, Gubbins also recruits Gus March-Phillips, played by Henry Cavill, to recruit a team to destroy the Duchessa d'Aosta ship as part of the mission.

If you like Henry Cavill playing a comedic, physical role like he did in Mission Impossible, Cavill's bringing that same energy here. Among his hand-chosen mercenaries, he brings in Danish strongman Anders Lassen, played by Alan Ritchson, whose brother was killed by Nazis; sailor Henry Hayes, played by Hero Fiennes Tiffin, whose brother was also killed by Nazis; career criminal Freddy "The Frog" Alvarez, played by Henry Golding, who loves blowing stuff up; and, eventually, Geoffrey Appleyard, played by Alex Pettyfer, who was involved in multiple operations for the English military. These five men work well together in their interactions, and their side of the story is fun to watch as they try to figure out how five men will take down virtually the entire Nazi navy once they arrive at Fernando Po.

The other half of the story follows Stewart and Heron as they work to send intelligence back to the British government while sabotaging the Nazis' efforts as they make their way to Fernando Po. Again, the chemistry between González and Olusanmokun is good, and their side of the story shows just how effective they can be while spying on the Nazis. In particular, González's work with Til Schweiger as Stewart distracts Schweiger's Nazi villain Heinrich Luhr with her sexual allure is very good, and I'll make it a point to say that Eiza González may have been the best part in the film with her performance.

Being that this is a Guy Ritchie film, the comedic side of the story shines through more often than the war side does, but there are still explosions, fight scenes, and battles that are shown. Im saying that, one of the comedic moments that caught my attention was Heron telling Prince Kambili Kalu, played by Danny Sapani, that Stewart can outshoot any of his men, and Stewart proceeds to demonstrate this ability before a very humorous ending to their sequence. These funny moments make Ungentlemanly Warfare feel more like entertainment than a tale from history, and Ritchie does a good job in balancing these moments while pushing the plot forward.

The five-man crew is where most of the fighting occurs, and Ritchie doesn't pull punches as there are knives, guns, arrows, and bombs all used by March-Phillips' group to accomplish their goals. However, a major twist happens later in the film after having planned out their attack to sink the Duchessa d'Aosta ship when Heron and Stewart discover that the ship cannot be sunk! This forces both units to change plans in an instant as March-Phillips' crew goes off-script while Heron and Stewart do their best to buy the five men time to execute a new plan! Will they stop the Nazis?

Being that this was based on a real set of individuals, I'll encourage everyone not to get up once the action ends so one can find out the fate of these seven characters that were involved in Operation Postmaster. In reality, there were many more people involved, and one of those people was a guy by the name of Ian Fleming. If that name sounds familiar, he's the man responsible for James Bond, and he did cite spies and military personnel like Gus March-Phillips as direct inspirations for James Bond. This was a cool thing to see before the credits rolled, so kudos to Guy Ritchie for paying tribute to these brave individuals.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the film as The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was more entertainment than a historical retelling of the story. Because of Ritchie taking some creative liberties, the comedy and story were very entertaining without a ton of focus on the history or the strategy used by either side in the war. The movie is R-rated for good reason as the violence in the final scenes alone would qualify it for that rating, but there certainly was some language that was a little salty as well. In short, expect Inglorious Basterds more than Saving Private Ryan if you choose to watch this action-comedy film!

Teebz's Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5 stars)

I don't know how rewatchable the movie would be which is why it lost a star in the overall rating, but The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was notably produced by Black Bear Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films while being released in theatres by Lionsgate and via streaming company Amazon Prime. It spent a week in theatres before moving to the streaming services.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!