22.4.24
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare aims to recreate the vibes of a pulp comic book, like a ‘diet’ version of a Tarantino film, and it succeeds. With its direct action sequences and bravado-laden dialogue, it delivers gleeful enjoyment that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I have no shame in stating that its British charm and cartoonish violence won me over.
That said, the issue is that it’s totally without bite, and signs suggest that with each Guy Ritchie film, they’re getting more and more watered down and safer in terms of drug and sex references. It makes me cynically think that Ritchie is just making films to appeal to the biggest audience possible, sacrificing some of the sharp edges that made his earlier works stand out. Producers STX Films have continued their work with Ritchie’s foray into sensible cinematic enjoyment again here. Like their last collaboration, Operation Fortune, filmed in Doha and distinctly made with a vanilla global audience in mind, this film avoids anything too radical or sexually suggestive.
We’re left with an adventure of pamphlet depth with the stakes feeling low as no characters ever seem in danger. Enemies die so quickly that it feels staged – villains pop up and are immediately shot down like targets at a funfair. But there’s simple enjoyment in seeing Alan Ritchson shank and Henry Cavill use his snubbed machine gun to shoot up Nazis. My highlight was Rory Kinnear’s unrecognisable but stoic performance as Winston Churchill, adding a sense of believability to the real-life story. A relatively mindless popcorn movie but sometimes that’s just what you need…. my wife and I only ended up going to see this because Dune 2 was sold out!