The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a quintessential Guy Ritchie movie: fun, more than a little over the top, not as deep as it could have been, and yet overall, wholly entertaining. It’s hard to criticize Ritchie when he is so consistently good at what he is doing. And yet, of all his movies, this one closes on a question. Could there be more? Would another format have benefited The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare? It’s a fair question.
Undoubtedly, the movie works well for what it is. Ritchie knows the format and he delivers a solid, if unsurprising movie. Considering The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is based on a true story and the bad guys in this particular tale are Nazis, it’s probably good that there are no surprises. No one really wants a surprise where the Nazis somehow win. But it’s hard to shake the feeling that there could have been more to, if not this particular story, at least the characters. Because there’s not a single one of them that doesn’t deserve more than what this movie gives them.
Of course, the end of the movie lends itself very well to a sequel, but it feels like the movie should have, perhaps, never been a movie. Coming off the success of Ritchie’s The Gentleman, it feels like the same format would have better served The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. The movie, after all, barely touches upon the backstory of all the characters, and though it manages to give every one of the actors a moment or two to shine, imagine what they could have done with entire episodes of backstory.
Even with the limited time, Eiza Gonzalez’s Marjorie Stewart is one of the standouts of a film that at first, appears to portray her as just another femme fatale. Gonzalez’s Marjorie quickly proves to be much more than a pretty face, however, and there’s so much told in her facial expressions throughout the film, that at times, Gonzalez is only saying the lines to reiterate what her body language already told us.
Cavill is another standout in a role where he gets to flex his comedic chops, which we already had a chance to see on display in Enola Holmes, and it’s a delight to see a different side of an actor who has become famous for more serious turns in The Witcher and Man of Steel. Funny Henry Cavill might just be the best Henry Cavill, particularly when he has someone to parry with, as he does in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.
It’s the combination of all the parts that make The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare work, however. Alan Ritchson and Cavill have the kind of chemistry that could almost warrant a sequel The Man from U.N.C.L.E (it’s not like that movie could be made with its original stars at this point) and Golding, Fiennes Tiffin, Pettyfer, and Olusanmokun round out a team that just clicks when they have scenes together perfectly.
Sure, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is, at its best, just a fun movie about a band of misfits coming together to stop Nazis from doing some very undefined Nazi things. But it’s a very easy watch that never drags, it features plenty of memorable characters, the classic Guy Ritchie flair and oh yes, the good guys win. That’s not such a bad way to spend an afternoon.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is in theaters now.