The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare movie review
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare poster

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Movie Review: A mostly entertaining, even if imperfect, spy flick

Fact-based and full of pop culture references, Guy Ritchie’s film makes up for its missteps and lack of suspense with eye-popping action and irreverent humour
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The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare(2.5 / 5)

Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a mostly playful take on Operation Postmaster, a covert World War II mission to take down the ships offering supplies to the U-boats, the Nazi submarines. The film treats the Nazis with a sense of irreverence, with plenty of cinematic liberties and multiple pop culture references. This approach to storytelling has a double-edged effect. On the one hand, it makes the film an entertaining, wild ride. However, on the other hand, it plays fast and loose with historical accuracy. Let us first focus on how it works in favour of this film.

Director: Guy Ritchie

Cast: Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson, Eiza Gonzalez, Til Schweiger, Rory Kinnear

Streamer: Prime Video

The film has Ian Fleming (Freddie Fox) as a naval officer and a high-ranking British officer named Brigadier Gubbins 'M’ (Cary Elwes), who is possibly one of the many such personalities that inspired Fleming’s James Bond novels. In their first encounter, Henry Cavill’s Gus March-Phillipps tells Fleming and M that he needs one of those astute officer suits. Fleming played an indirect part in Operation Postmaster in real life, but the early scene is only a case of Ritchie paying a hat tip to the creator of James Bond. Fortunately, it never becomes a forced reference thanks to the clever way in which Ritchie eventually integrates it into the screenplay.

In another scene, a Nazi officer (Til Schweiger’s Heinrich Luhr) tells a woman (Eiza Gonzalez’s Jewish spy Marjorie Stewart) trying to seduce him in the guise of a gold trader that, "This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." It's a clever Casablanca reference, which again comes organically as part of the story.


Admirably, even as he dramatises the real events, Ritchie treats his subjects authentically, wherever necessary. For example, a German male officer offers to carry Marjorie's suitcase, but her partner-in-crime, Babs Olusanmokun’s Heron, steps in to be of service to her. Then, the Nazi officer exalts, “Chivalry is not dead.” However, the true motivation behind Heron's action is far from chivalrous. Rather, it is a tactic to keep the Nazis from discovering the contents of the suitcase, which are crucial to the mission. This contrast between appearance and reality highlights the central paradox of the film: the characters engage in ungentlemanly warfare, employing unconventional and often morally ambiguous tactics, while simultaneously maintaining a facade of civility. However, the full scene is problematic in that it requires you to suspend your disbelief a little too much for your liking.

A woman simply puts a dummy briefcase on top of a German suitcase carrying vital pieces of intelligence and takes it away. And the Nazis barely notice it even as the suitcase goes missing for a few minutes? In another scene, a woman slowly takes out a gun from her lingerie and shoots down a Nazi officer. You wonder whether the Nazis are so dumb as to wait for their own death. Further, it is unbelievable how Gus and his team simply walk into a Nazi camp in slow-motion and casually take their enemies down one by one. It seems more like the hijinks of gangsters than the credulous deeds of British spies.

This is not to say that films with a period setting should not exercise cinematic liberty. However, the film makes one too many mistakes along the way which makes it somewhat incredulous. Nevertheless, to give credit where credit is due, the events leading up to the final mission are engaging with plenty of action and dollops of humour. The film has the signature style of director Guy Ritchie, with his frenetic pacing, dynamic camera work, and intricate action choreography. Each character brings their own flair to the fights and the stunts themselves showcase some of their personalities and abilities, making them entertaining. Each of the team members also has their moment, although it is Alan Ritchson who makes the biggest impact as Anders Lassen. The film's biggest laugh comes when Ritchson says, “I am not leaving until I have a barrel full of Nazi hearts.”

Of the rest of the cast, Rory Kinnear portrays Winston Churchill as a wily, brave, and diplomatic leader with a penchant for grand wartime speeches. Kinnear adds to the film's playful tone while ensuring that Churchill remains a dignified figure. And while the climax lacks an element of suspense and becomes a straightforward shootout, there is enough in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare to enjoy.

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