The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

For a classic example of a film with a terribly misleading trailer, look no further. Long, long ago in a movie theater not so far away, CFR and I saw the trailer for this movie and determined to see it. The director has made at least one film that I have enjoyed quite a bit (The Gentlemen) and this looked right up his alley, with lots of shooting and explosions and fun characters.

Based on a true story, it dramatizes the beginning of modern secret warfare specialists. There is a, sadly, much needed history lesson at the top for the multitude of Americans who don’t know what WWII was. The unit was greenlit by Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of England. Basically, he was both the face and especially the voice of western resistance to the Axis forces (the bad guys), but he was the power behind a lot of, well, everything. There was a mission to the port in the film, and the objective was the same, to throw a large wrench in the U-Boat campaign. It was so secret the files weren’t released for 50 years.

The characters in the film are for the most part based on actual people, but there has been some dramatic tweaking to suit a modern audience. One of the biggest draws for CFR and I was the promise that the sole woman character (who bears an amazing resemblance to the sole woman character in The Gentlemen) was just as bad ass as the men and capable of mowing down Nazis with any kind of gun while rocking a hot dress and heels. Remember the part about a misleading trailer? Here was the biggest one. Eiza Gonzáles (3 Body Problem, Mr. and Mrs. Smith tv series) plays the brilliant and brave femme fatale Marjorie Stewart who spends most of the movie role playing with spy partner Heron (Babs Olusanmokun, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Dune part 2). And there you have the totality of major character diversity. I did enjoy the verbal repartee she engaged in with the most scary Nazi since Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds. Actually, I think he was scarier.

And here is the saddest part of the tale. Til Sweiger is a familiar face but here he sweats malignant bullets from his pores. His eyes don’t shoot daggers, they are the things lasers were made from. Evil lasers. Does he actually do anything evil in the movie? Sadly, no. But he sure looked scary. Henry Cavill (Superman) plays the part of the chief good guy wrangling a team of stone cold killers working for the good guys. He has a wicked beard and curly mustache, which is always full of the detritus one creates from chewing all the scenery.  Alan Ritchson (Reacher) is put to good use here. He looks like he has touched a bow before, and I totally believed he could kill people as brutally as depicted. He’s a bit one note, though. If he’s not ripping someone’s heart out with his bare hands, he’s off to the side glowering at bad guys.

I know director Guy Ritchie can create tension, but here it was so missing. He obviously wanted his movie to be another Inglorious Basterds with a strong mix of The Kingsmen. What he made was a by the numbers action film set in a quaint, blowupable African village. There is a lot talk about danger and thousands of bullets are flung at the heroes. But they are action movie invincible and that made me really sad.

After a fun, action-y start, the film takes a screeching slow down that slowly builds again to a Zach Snyder style, over the top finish. Musical choices for the soundtrack are, just kinda strange. Don’t even get me started on the actor who played Churchill. He was utterly wrong for the role, beginning with a lame imitation of his speaking. Some of the ocean CGI was noticeable even on my TV so I’m extra glad I didn’t pay to see this on a big screen.

I really want to say something nice about the film. Lemme think a minute. Okay, it was pretty. The costumes are nice, especially Marjorie’s dresses. I liked Olusanmokun’s character, especially as he spoke fluent Yoruba. I suppose if you don’t mind being completely unchallenged by a big money action fest you might enjoy the film. Don’t expect much going in and you’ll enjoy it better than me.

Triggers: Lots of violence

Available: Starz Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Plex, Paramount+

LINKS:

• The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare – Lionsgate Official Website
• The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare – IMDB
• The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare – Wikipedia

CFR: In Addition

I’m so glad that Cranky watched this movie and reviewed it. I watched a while ago because I have a guilty pleasure and that is watching Nazis lose. Preferably lose everything. This movie did deliver that. I really enjoyed how each character had a reason to to smack down the Nazis that went beyond the war.

Now this movie really got to me on a gut level. I worried about our characters being captured or killed by the Nazis. Although I figured that they would win, I did worry. I also enjoyed the little moments that some characters had. From enjoying their Nazi ending actions to small snarky comments, I got a good laugh. Also note: Ian Fleming is a character in this movie. I admit, sorry Cranky, I enjoyed it.

However there was one thing that really burned me. And I think it contributed to movie not succeeding as much as it could have art the box office.

The final credits begin with pictures and short bios of the characters in the movie. The real live characters and what they did during the war and whether they survived. That was remarkable. Until it ended and the credits rolled. Every character was honored except Heron, played by Babs Olusanmokun. In short, the black man was ignored.

That also meant that all of the work the African people, black African people did, was ignored. The credit bios only honored the white people, not the black people. I sat in my chair and thought “You gotta be kidding me.” It made a pit in my stomach.

Even if the Heron character was based on many real-life people, that should have been acknowledged. The cooperation and work between the African people and our heroes saved the day. Those real life black people – who the Nazis despised due to their skin – we also risking their lives and homes to fight a truly vile enemy. They should have been honored.

Now I seriously doubt that the director and crew were working to be racist. After all Heron had marvelous moments in the movie showing off just how great Babs Olusanmokun truly is. But the end omission was so thoughtless. It is not enough for us white people to be against racism, we must practice and take steps to end racism. Honoring the African contribution to the cause would have been a giant and beautiful step in the right direction.

Next time, Mr. Richie. Next time remember.