Guy Ritchie seems intent these days on getting a grasp what it means to be a “gentleman,” and I suppose we can’t be too mad about it. His recently released Netflix series “The Gentlemen,” uses the term with a wink, given that some of the posh characters it features behave quite deplorably. And now we get to watch Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson, and Alex Pettyfer play witty, competent, but somewhat maverick characters in “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.” It begs the question, what is “gentlemanly” warfare? Does one fire one’s guns with one’s pinkie out? Whatever it may be, we see none of it.
The movie is based loosely around recently declassified documents surrounding what seems to be the first Black Ops mission ever developed by Great Britain, wherein Churchill and his guys put together a team of officers to wreak havoc along the African coast and pilfer some key German ships. In Ritchie’s version, it manifests as something like The Expendables meets Inglourious Basterds, where the guys they recruit for this mission are known for rule-breaking, unorthodox behavior but happen to be very talented at killing and strategy other and soldier stuff.
Led by Gus March-Phillips (Cavill)--who, fun fact, may have been the real-life inspiration for James Bond given that Ian Fleming was involved in planning this historical operation–this newly formed team, disguised as fishmen, must sneak into the West African port of Fernando Po, where a ship that provides fuel and supplies for all of the German U-Boats in the Atlantic is docked. They are to sink the ship and, in doing so, hamper the U-boat fleet long enough for the Allied forces to take back the Atlantic. Already in Fernando Po are Marjorie (Eiza Gonzalez) and Heron (Babs Olusanmokun, or Jamis for you Dune fans). Heron, having established himself as a club owner on the island, has brought in the cultured and pulchritudinous Marjorie to seduce evil Nazi bigwig Til Schweiger and help him pull off preparations for the job.
The action in the film is satisfying in the same way the action in a Bond film is satisfying. The “good guys” ooze competence and feel inevitable, going about their business (killing Nazis) with efficiency and style. But it’s less individualistic than a Bond film and bears resemblance instead to the "Ocean's-integer" movies wherein there’s a diverse assembly of witty, good-looking people with peerless specific competencies making light work of obstacles.
If anything were wrong with this movie, it’d have to be that it’s too slick. The seduction banter is a little too clever, the implication that all these characters are this erudite and multilingual seems a little far-fetched, the cast is a little too good-looking, none of the main characters get into too much hot water, and the Nazis are a little too easy to defeat. Sure, there are some complications, but victory never feels too much in doubt. At least Bond gets captured occasionally.
The cast is strong (literally and figuratively) and easy to watch. Cavill and Ritchson command their action scenes, as both actors are very experienced in that realm, and have an easy time playing off one another. Gonzalez is magnetic on her own, but her banter with Olusanmokun feels a bit forced. (Or maybe the writing just wasn’t good enough.)
It all amounts to something that’s satisfying enough but feels more like a sleek heist movie than, say, a Tarantino film, which it seemed to aspire to. We all love to watch Nazis suffer defeat at the hands of competent good guys, but it can be more satisfying when the cunning and menace of the opposition is more palpable.
