Directed and co-written by Guy Ritchie, this action-comedy tells the incredible true 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 Ian Fleming. The top secret combat unit, composed of a motley crew of rogues and mavericks led by Gus March-Phillipps (Henry Cavill), goes on a daring mission against the Nazis using entirely unconventional and utterly “ungentlemanly” fighting techniques. Ultimately, the task force’s audacious approach changed the course of the war and laid the foundation for the British SAS and modern black ops warfare.
What We Thought:
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is the second disappointing film starring Henry Cavill of 2024. I say disappointing because there are parts of the film that are genuinely fun and interesting. Unfortunately it also seems like they took a lot of liberties from the true World War II story to pander to today’s modern audience. I’ll never understand taking a story that is crazy in the first place and tweaking it. Just let what happened and the people who did it be your movie.
The film takes place in the early 1940s before the U.S. got fully involved in World War II. German U-boats had a lockdown on the Atlantic cutting off needed supplies for England and the Allies. With approval from Winston Churchill himself, a ragtag group is put together to sink an important German boat which would hopefully hurt the U-boat armada. The mission helped spark the creation of special ops groups like the British SAS, the US Navy SEALs, etc.
The things I liked about it are the music and Cavill. Guy Ritchie has always used music well in his movies and there’s a jazz scene that is intense. I don’t know if Cavill has grown on me as an actor or if I just like him too much as a person, but he’s solid in this. He physically looks the part and handles the action and comedic elements with ease. Alan Ritchson’s character is one I think they changed a bit or maybe combined multiple real life people into one role. His character comes across as gay and yes gay men existed in the 1940s, but I find it hard to believe a soldier would be somewhat openly gay in the military 80 years ago. Eiza González is beautiful, sings and speaks multiple languages in real life, but looks nothing like the real life woman she’s portraying. Til Schweiger’s Nazi leader character seems straight out of a movie about World War II and he also feels like a made up character or combination of real men.
I was also disappointed in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare because I think Cavill’s best film is The Man From U.N.C.L.E. which, like this film, was directed by Ritchie. I was hoping a reunion of the pair would create another great action flick with comedic elements. Sure there is action in this and it also has comedic moments but the film feels forced to reach a certain audience instead of being a classic war ensemble like The Dirty Dozen or The Great Escape. The character Cavill portrays is allegedly who Ian Fleming based James Bond on and the story would change the face of warfare in real life, but the film was more miss than hit for me. The film disappointed at the box office, but I can see it picking up steam on home video and streaming services despite me not loving the movie. It’s something I might watch again in a few years when I’ve forgotten most of it to see if it’s as disappointing then as it is now.
CAST:
Henry Cavill The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Justice League, Argylle
Eiza González Baby Driver, Alita: Battle Angel, Hobbs & Shaw, Godzilla vs. Kong
Alan Ritchson Fast X, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, “Blue Mountain State,” “Reacher”
Alex Pettyfer I Am Number Four, Elvis & Nixon
Hero Fiennes Tiffin Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Woman King
Til Schweiger Inglourious Basterds, This Means War, The Three Musketeers, Atomic Blonde
Henry Golding Crazy Rich Asians, The Gentlemen, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Cary Elwes The Princess Bride, Saw
The Nerds Templar 