The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is jolly good fun
Holy Cow! When the Average Dude saw a preview for The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, I was 100% in! Starring Chief’s fan and GOAT Superman Henry Cavill AND Alan ‘Reacher’ Ritchson, I was geeking out at the prospect of these two mega dudes doing mega-dude things on the same side in the same movie. Crazy awesome. Even Mrs. Average Dude was psyched for this movie. Average Dude does not begrudge her enjoying the eye candy.
So, when Average Dude was scoping out the new releases for last week and happened upon an advance screening for The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, I knew it was going to be a twofer weekend (Civil War review – coming soon). I love a twofer weekend so much.
Terribly unsporting of you, ol’ chap
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare it the ‘based on a actual events’ story of purported scoundrel Gus March-Phillips and his assembled crew of similar ne’er-do-wells. This merry band of chaos-bringers all possess a variety of ‘very particular skill sets’. Sadly, the oh-so-proper British government could not, in good conscience, bring said skill sets to bear on an enemy that showed no reluctance to use any level of brutality to further its ends. So, Churchill and a small contingent of his war cabinet enlisted March-Phillips to do their dirty work, promising prison (at best) should he and his men be found out.
So began Operation: Postmaster, a coverty operation to take out a German submarine refueling and supply depot on the ‘neutral’ Spanish island of Fernando Po.
God bless you, Guy Ritchie
While The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare had all the booty (giggety) that Mrs Average Dude could want – a dashing rogue leader (Cavill), an even larger human specimen (Ritchson) AND the Dread Pirate Roberts (okay, it’s a romantic throwback) it was not without a little sumthin-sumthin for the mates. Eiza Gonzalez plays Marjorie Stewart, an actress/singer/socialite turned spy for not-sure-whom and is a very passable clone of Gal Gadot. Thanks, Guy Ritchie. Your service to the Average Dudes is appreciated.
Too much star power
So, with a loaded cast, a classic action movie premise and one of my favorite directors at the helm, how could The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare be anything but a monumental smash? Here’s how…too much of a good thing. We all know Cavill’s movie pedigree. Action movie veteran. And most of us are still high on Alan Ritchson from two seasons of ‘Reacher’. We expected a lot of screen time for both of these fellows. Cavill, as the star of the story, got his. Ritchson, however, was almost an afterthought, which is a shame. And I get it. There was a lot going on in this movie, something had to give. I guess Ritchson is still paying his dues.
Also a small gripe, I have to mention that I have rarely seen so many deaths with so little gore. I mean, these super-commandos killed a LOT of bad guys. And unless I blinked, every single shot made with either a bullet, an arrow or a thown object found its mark unerringly. Apparently, Hollywood never misses.
In spite of the tiny imperfections of this movie, the Average Dude enthusiastically gives The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare a 4 out of 5. Well worth the 2 hrs and corn. We love it when all the WWII baddies get ended (well, ALMOST all of them). You’ll get plenty of it here and it’s always satisfying. Tally ho!
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