The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

 

Score:  B+

Directed by Guy Ritchie

Starring Henry Cavill, Eiza Gonzalez, Alan Ritchson, Til Schweiger, et. al.

Running time: 120 minutes

Rated R

Long Story Short: Part action movie, part lost-WWII history, Ungentlemanly Warfare appropriately goes around the usual boundaries of its genres to deliver a well-made, entertaining journey.  While not for the faint of the heart, with its impressive Nazi body count, there is still a good balance of quieter espionage and political maneuvering to go with the violent mayhem.  Add in a star-studded and well-chosen cast that is at the top of its game and you have a highly recommended pre-summer theater experience.

In the dark depths of World War II, with Nazi Germany spreading mercilessly across Europe and beyond, Britain is desperate for relief.  It seeks the United States' help, but the Nazis' U-boat submarines are wreaking havoc in the Atlantic Ocean.  Fortunately, an intelligence breakthrough reveals key Nazi U-boat secrets, and even as his advisers urge him to surrender to Germany, Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Kinnear) authorizes a black-ops mission to cripple the U-boat threat.  Gus (Cavill) leads a small team of capable but condemned men to lead the attack, while special agents Stewart and Heron prepare the way.  Secrecy and courage are essential as this high-risk, high-reward mission begins - with the fate of the world at stake.

Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a very entertaining and well-made action/espionage movie with an impressive effort to maintain its historical premise (albeit with plenty of Hollywood spectacle).  The movie is basically split into two parts: one mainly focused on the action with Gus and his gang of macho men, and one focused on two sly secret agents just as crucial to the mission.  The Gus part is somewhat of a typical action movie, although a particularly well-choreographed one at that and with a valuable specificity of time, place, and adversary.  I must note that this part of the movie is intensely violent at times; the Nazi body count is pretty high, though there's not a lot of gratuitous gore, IMO.  Plus, if anyone is going to get massacred like this, it probably should be Nazis!  The opening scene is particularly good, dropping the audience in the middle of the action - Gus and co. ambush a Nazi ship - then backing up the timeline afterward.  It combines surprise, humor, modest action, and creativity; the other battle scenes are good, too, and importantly, not overwhelming and/or numbing.

While I enjoyed the action, I actually preferred the other section, featuring espionage with agents Stewart and Heron.  There are neat tricks and nods to the technology and tactics of the time (via communications, decoys, etc.), details that are often overlooked in these movies.  There is also more suspense and danger in this section: the agents are vulnerable, and while they're quite capable they must keep up the disguise and subtlety - this makes for a good combo with the brute force action.  I also liked the actors here a lot.  Olusanmokun's Heron is distinctive (with a very spy-like voice), and feels totally in control; Gonzalez's Stewart is an incredibly capable (and gorgeous) agent, moving deftly from seductress (but NOT a Bond girl!) to markswoman and more.  Schweiger's SS officer is also a great bad guy, creepy and menacing and richly deserving of an ass-kicking.  The soundtrack is great, from western to jazzy or caper-like (think Ocean's Eleven) but also with some powerful, victorious parts that stand out.  Humor is liberally sprinkled throughout (and thankfully it doesn't try to make the violence "funny"), including a third section, involving brief moments with Churchill and his military leaders steering (or hampering) the plans.  The movie might have been even a bit better if the action team faced more resistance. There are certainly twists and obstacles, but it feels somewhat pre-determined.  Still, that's a quibble: this is a strong movie.

***

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a tasty appetizer as we approach the summer movie season, effectively combining three of my favorite film elements (action, history, and espionage).  It's also only the second good movie I've seen in the theater this year, I'm afraid.  I saw the new King Kong-Godzilla movie, and Madame Web, the new Spider-Man-adjacent superhero movie, neither of which were even worth my time to write reviews for.  As I've said before for other movies, hopefully Hollywood will take note of Ungentlemanly Warfare as a source of inspiration.  It's difficult for action movies to stand out from the pack, or even for its signature violence to have any impact.  When it's combined with some interesting, specific context and some other genre elements like this, it makes for much more effective entertainment.  Well, I'm not sure what is coming up next, but I can guarantee that the wait won't be nearly as long for whatever it is!

* By Lionsgate, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75770134