Since so many countries were involved in World War II, people around the globe have stories of heroes committing acts of selfless gallantry for the greater good. Guy Ritchie's latest, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, is one such film. In this story, a band of mostly British misfit heroes fight against the Axis powers on a mission to disrupt Nazi U-boat supply lines in the early 1940s.
The operation depicted in the film is based on real events detailed in the 2014 book Churchill's Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII by Damien Lewis, as well as files that were declassified in 2016. Originally witnessed by a young man named Ian Fleming (played in the film by Freddie Fox), along with Henry Cavill's Gu March-Phillips, this mission — requiring expert subterfuge, carefully planned explosions, and lots and lots of knives and guns — became the inspiration for James Bond.
Documenting what could be considered as the first-ever black ops mission in modern history, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare sees Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding, Alex Pettyfer, Hero Fiennes Tiffen and Babs Olusanmokun each play a character with a particular skill, who form a team and execute a plan to blow up a supply ship and kill a bunch of Nazis in the process. But where the book tells the story of people, Ritchie turns the special forces squad into supercharged superheroes.
Cavill and Pettyfer both take on the Captain America — or Captain Great Britain, rather — role but angrier and more stoic. González plays a version of Black Widow so well that it makes one wonder why she wasn't considered for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As an explosives expert, Golding recalls a very loose Iron Man, while Fiennes Tiffen assumes the position of the young idealistic one, and Ritchson embodies a smart version of the Hulk with even less hesitation towards violence. Olusanmokun rounds out the team, but, rather than being a superhero, his bar-owning society man is an obvious homage to Casablanca.
Steeped in archetype, these character exhibit little nuance — but, then, this film doesn't require nuance for what it's trying to achieve, which is killing Nazis. Everyone in the cast is having a great time switching back and forth from reserved, well-spoken gentlemen and women to brutal, enthusiastic Nazi killers. Well into one particular scene, a character tied to a wall calmly asks to have a car battery disconnected from his nipples, never showing his discomfort. In another sequence, a character loudly interrupts a Nazi's punchline with fake laughter and then slaughters everyone in the room with his tongue stuck out and glee in his eyes.
As a result, the film faces a small conflict: it's never quite sure if it's trying to be Inglorious Basterds or The Avengers. That doesn't detract from the fun, but it does prevent the film from transitioning from good to great, despite opportunities along the way. The Bond connection doesn't go anywhere either; despite the well-planned mission and a few effective stealthy action scenes, nothing connects the mission to being Fleming's inspiration for creating one of film's most famous characters, other than Fleming's presence in the film.
Furthermore, while Ritchie has a confident hand directing the film, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare doesn't have much of that trademark Guy Ritchie sauce. It is the most straightforward action film Ritchie has directed in years, eschewing many of his usual trademarks in favour of clearer, well-shot action. Fans of his style from films like Snatch or Sherlock Holmes will recognize this departure almost immediately, and although this pared-down approach does work for this film, it would have been nice to have just a bit more of Ritchie's usual flair.
In trying to be too many things at once, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare hamstrings itself, but it's still a well-executed and fun action movie with a great cast, impressive production design and striking costuming. Defeating the Nazis never gets old, and Ritchie and his team have a great time doing that in creative ways. Sometimes that's enough for a summer film.