MOVIE REVIEW! - 'The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare'

'The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare' (2024)

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In “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare”, director Guy Ritchie has assembled a good cast of characters in a film that is a heavily fictionalized telling of Operation Postmaster. This is the operation that came at a critical time for Britain in World War II and it put the Special Operations Executive (SOE) on the map as a major tool of espionage to be used against the Nazis.

In the movie’s version of events, Britain is being strangled by Nazi attacks. They are not only enduring grueling air raids, but their ships containing much needed supplies are constantly sunk by German U-Boats. The U-Boats are steadily resupplied by a German ship, the Duchessa d’Aosta, which is docked at the Spanish-controlled island of Fernando Po. Being that Spain is a neutral country, the British cannot act against this supply line in an official capacity.

That is why Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Rory Kinnear) unofficially authorizes Brigadier Gubbins (Cary Elwes), the head of the SOE, to put together a secret operation. Gubbins then recruits a rogue commander named Gus March-Phillipps (Henry Cavill) to put together a team that will go to Fernando Po to destroy the ship. The only problem is that since this is an off-the-books assignment, if the British capture them, they’ll be arrested and if the Germans catch them, they’ll more than likely be killed.

Henry Cavill is Gus March-Phillips in 'The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare'.

March-Phillips’ team includes Alan Ritchson’s Anders Lassen, a knife-wielding operative who is also quite talented with a bow and arrow. Hero Fiennes Tiffin stars as Henry Hayes, an accomplished sailor tasked with getting the team to the island. Alex Pettyfer is Geoffrey Appleyard, a friend of Gus’ that was already sent ahead to gather intelligence and finally there is Henry Golding as Freddy Alvarez, an explosives expert and frogman.

Meanwhile, on the island, Eiza González’s Majorie Stewart and Babs Olusanmokun’s Mr. Heron are undercover on the island. Their mission is to gain intel. They do this through two methods. One is through Mr. Heron’s casino business that he has established. The other method is that Marjorie is to seduce the SS commander, Heinrich Luhr (Til Schweiger), and get whatever she can from him.

Now, this movie has more style than substance. All that means is that you shouldn’t expect any grand drama or major character development. This is an old-school “soldiers on a mission” movie and that is its singular focus. It’s a movie about secret patriots who disrupt the system in order to get the job done because they’re the only ones that can at the end of the day.

Cavill and crew are ready to covertly take the fight to the Nazis!

Front and center in the movie is Cavill as March Phillipps. Not only was the real March-Phillips a primary inspiration for Ian Fleming’s James Bond, there is not a better example than his performance in this movie for why Cavill would make an excellent James Bond. He’s charismatic yet he has a razor-sharp edge and a good sense of dark humor as he goes around killing Nazis.

The rest of the performances are good as well. I particularly liked Olusanmokun as the cool and collected Mr. Heron. González is also good at playing Majorie, the femme fatale role in the movie. Back at the headquarters in London, Elwes is great as Gubbins and Kinnear is a convincing Winston Churchill.

Of course, this movie is primarily an action-packed spy film, so how does it do on that front? Not bad at all, to be honest. The action is fun and exciting and since this is a movie about a group of people fighting back against the Nazis, it’s hard not to root for the good guys here.

Ultimately, Ritchie and co. set out to make a fun actioner and provide audiences with pure escapist entertainment for a couple of hours. If it makes you curious about an important moment in the history of WWII, then that’s just an added bonus. 

If you’re looking for a movie that has more substance than style or for a film that is truer to the events it portrays, then this one may not be for you. On the other hand, if you’re looking for an action packed movie that harkens back to war films such as “Kelly’s Heroes” or “Where Eagles Dare”, then look no further than “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare”.