The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Guy Ritchie’s latest action film is loosely based on true, mostly encrypted stories, in which the British military recruits a small group of highly skilled soldiers to strike against German forces behind enemy lines during World War II.

Guy Ritchie seems to be racking out more movies than some of his fans will be able to keep track of, but among a slew with varying qualities, this one may end up being looked back at as one of his most entertaining films ever. Ritchie imbues the screen with an Inglorious Basterds-like irreverence to its Nazi-killing action. The WWII battles are swiftly edited and have action sequences that’ll make you cheer with glee at the bad guy body count and the different ways they get killed by the titular heroes. Henry Cavill leads the pack with a similar irreverence he gave Ritchie’s The Man From U.N.C.L.E., but with an even rougher edge to his badassery. The ensemble of Eiza Gonzalez, Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding, and Cary Elwes all give the film a liveliness that makes up for a lack of uniqueness to them, as well as a menacing Til Schweiger who maintains a strong presence. Unlike last year’s Operation Fortune, the film’s witty humor matches the extra wicked energy the director is known for, but it may lack character depth for some viewers. Most of the characters have little substance besides “recently incarcerated” or “they’re crazy”, but their outlandish personalities make up for that in the case of this film. The soundtrack choices aren’t always on-point, but the Western-inspired music usually adds to the film’s sharp direction. The film also doesn’t manage to always balance the different moving plots seamlessly, as Ritchie sometimes can’t help but indulge too much in his trademark banters which can sidetrack, but ultimately culminates in some strong tension in the third act. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare perhaps achieves what Matthew Vaughn’s The King’s Man failed to do — turn covert misfit spies into World War heroes and make the journey feel exciting and earned on the way. Ritchie is no stranger to the approach he set out to achieve here, but he manages to balance out his quirks with an excellent style, an interesting mission and cast of characters, and a rewarding catharsis when the action and comedy hit their peaks, as you might not want the fighting to stop out of sheer Ritchie delight.

The Gentlemen

After big studio pieces like King Arthur and Aladdin that didn’t quite feel like they belonged to him (although he did make quite a good Sherlock Holmes film with Robert Downey Jr., and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was arguably fun as well), The Gentlemen is Guy Ritchie at his most untamed and… Guy Ritchie-like. He goes back to doing what he does best — making irreverent, unforgiving British crime with non-stop violence and cursing, playing around with narrative in creative ways and even referencing himself. He celebrates his creative freedom with this film to bring to life a violent, original, and entertaining crime flick that will be embraced by his fans as well as any audience member who’s willing to enjoy this great film for what it is. Matthew McConaughey’s character would be much less lovable in real life than his other roles yet is always a blast to watch, even when he’s a marijuana-obsessed crime lord. Charlie Hunnam is surprisingly the perfect choice to play the classic British crime protagonist in a Guy Ritchie movie and this is far better than his other film roles to date. Older audiences will definitely be attracted by the addition of Hugh Grant, who plays a much shadier role than his typical romantic lead but his continued partnership with Ritchie always works well. However, my favorite part of the cast was Colin Farrell, who is no stranger to this British crime noir subgenre, specifically In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths. These roles always fit Farrell like a shoe so seeing him as a mean but enjoyable criminal again is nothing but fun. The entire cast is strong, with the exception of Jeremy Strong who is awfully miscast as a role that’s supposed to come off as serious and intimidating yet ends up feeling dull and uninteresting in his performance.

From an eye-catching opening and an awesome opening credits sequence, you know The Gentlemen is something special among the action and comedy films Hollywood is used to releasing today. Ritchie definitely steps out of the box, playing around with narrative and characters, like showing you an event and then showing it again from different perspective to fool you as to what may have happened before. He also knows how to make his dialogue incredibly memorable and his characters intriguing, even when their backstories aren’t quite needed. It almost feels reminiscent not only of early Ritchie films like Snatch, but also of early Tarantino like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. This movie’s first act can be slow, but once the plot and characters are set up, it all becomes very interesting and unpredictable. Ultimately, The Gentlemen feels like a refreshing reward that we only get every once in a while with a superb cast at their A-game and some truly unique filmmaking that makes for some laugh-out-loud, unapologetic nonstop entertainment — or as Hugh Grant’s character calls it, “beautiful, beautiful cinema!”.

The Gentlemen poster.jpg