Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare - Decent But Disappointing

okay adequate acceptable fine these words might not be the most eloquent Pros ever committed to the page but I think they neatly sum up my thoughts on the ministry of ungentlemanly warfare guy Richie's World War II action Heist movie about the first British Special Forces mission of the war starring Henry caval and Alan richson a movie that has all the right ingredients to be something really special on par with in glorious bastards and snatch but somehow never quite lives up to its potential the result instead is a solid dependable and fun if slightly unremarkable war movie with comedy elements that don't always land and a script that drags in places and fails to make the most of its talented cast the film kicks off in the dark days of 1941 with Britain's struggling to hold its own against the axis Onslaught supplies of food and material from America are the only things standing between them and defeat but German OTS are sinking the supply ships almost as fast as they can be sent with time running out and the situ growing desperate Winston churo authorizes a risky Black Ops mission to a neutral island off the coast of Africa with the aim of destroying the German cargo ship used to supply the ubot fleet the outcome of the war May rest on their actions needless to say they need a team of highly motivated individuals for the job so they recruit Maverick officer Gus Phillips to lead the mission he's your typical British eccentric with no regard for Authority or other people's property but he's extremely good at what he does and soon he's assembled a team of like minded individuals and is on his way to the islands meanwhile they're undercover contacts in Africa infiltrate the German poor and begin preparations for the attack but standing in the way is a small army of German soldiers led by a ruthless SS commander who begins to suspect that all Is Not What It Seems when a last minute Revelation about their target threatens to derail the whole operation will Gus and the boys managed to improvise their way through a nearly impossible mission or will the Germans get the better of them I said before that Ministry of UN gentlemanly Warfare has all the right ingredients to be an awesome movie basically in glorious bastards made by the man who gave us snatch and the man from unco an old-fashioned action movie based on real life World War II heroics with a modern twist the kind of boy own action adventure that we've been desperately lacking in recent years the problem is that all these promising elements don't quite mesh together into a cohesive end product I mean don't get me wrong there's definitely entertainment to be had here caval and richson are both on top form and seem to be having lot of fun with their roles caval in particular acts as a kind of prototype James Bond a bit rough around the edges but possessing the kind of laconic self-confidence you'd expect from an upper class Brit at this time periods it's a bit sad now when you realize that this is probably the closest you'll ever get to play in 007 Isa Gonzalez is excellent as an undercover operative and fem fatal who has to use seduction as much as violence to achieve her Mission the movie Never tries to turn her into a typical Hollywood girl boss who can outfight the boys and well she's not exactly hard on the eyes either there's some decent set pieces that seem to use a lot of practical effects which is always nice to see in a modern action movie and for the most part the movie manages to walk that fine line between serious war movie with actual stakes and consequences and Breezy action adventure with comedic undertones without straying too far in either direction it's definitely not perfect by any means but I did get the impression that everyone involved actually cared about what they were making and seemed to be having lots of fun with it and well so did I on the other hand though there's plenty of annoying shortcomings that hold the film back from greatness the first is the pacing and balance the narrative is split between Gus and his team on the one hand and margerie and Mr Heron on the other and the problem is that they feel more like two disconnected narratives competing for your attention rather than different strands of the same story that support and complement each other Margery sections aren't all that interesting for the most part there's lots of traveling from place to place and Gathering inel but it's never compelling or urgent enough to hold your attention I mean the two actors are pretty good and they're doing their best with what they're given but the script isn't sharp or witty enough to make me care that much about them also I could be wrong about this but I don't feel like World War II German soldiers would be quite so respectful and accommodating towards black people as they are in this film The Hallmark of guy Richie movies was always the razor sharp dialogue and quick kinetic editing that got you where you needed to be with minimal time wasted man the gentleman proved that he's absolutely still got it in this department but this film feels like a big step backwards in comparison the flabby editing causes the film to drag at times Gus and the rest of the team spend way too long at Sea on their way to the mission rather than actually doing the mission and the last minute change of plans results in a rushed finale where it wasn't entirely clear on who was doing what or why the witty biting dialogue I expected never really arrived either nobody has anything particularly insightful or interesting to say and I feel like what you end up with is a group of really good actors doing their best to elevate some pretty mediocre material also I've got to say this film may have the worst Winston Churchill I've ever seen in a movie the actor looks sounds and acts almost nothing like the guy can't we get a better actor I know it's a small part but I think we can do better than this the obvious point of comparison with this film would be in glorious bastards and I have to be honest it's not a flattering comparison the style pacing tension and Creative Energy of Tarantino's film makes Ministry look like a by the Numbers action flick in comparison the bastards for example were pretty well fleshed out as a team so that you knew who everyone was and how they were likely to act in a given situation but aside from caval and richson none of the others really get the scream time in development they need to be more than glorified background extras till schweiger's Commander lure feels like a pale imitation of Hans Landa with none of the quirky personality traits or simmering Menace of Kristoff waltz's character marjerie Stewart has the similar personal history to Shana but it's nowhere near as compelling and tragic because it's dismissed with a couple of quick sentences the film even has the same plot device of a character giving away their true identity to the villain with a momentary lapse of judgment that tips them off but whereas it was subtle smartly done and internally consistent in bastards here it's so blatant and silly that it's hard to believe a trained operative would make such a dumb mistake I mean I guess I'm being kind of harsh here by comparing it to one of the best movies in the genre but the thing is I know what guy Rich he's capable of as a writer and director when he's operating at his best and I know it's better than this and as a result what could have been the start of a really cool fun new franchise is more likely to end up as a flash in the pan quickly forgotten ultimately while I think Ministry is a perfectly serviceable action flick elevated by a solid cast that will probably keep you entertained for a couple of hours it's not the kind of film you'll ever feel compelled to rewatch and what could have been a great movie instead turned out to be disappointingly okay anyway that's all I've got for today go away now

Channel: The Critical Drinker

Views: 625,933

Keywords: critical drinker, review, funny, best, henry cavill, alan ritchson, feminism, feminist, movie

Id: d-R4AKnJc98

Length: 6min 59sec (419 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 27 2024