MovieChat Forums > The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) Discussion > Pretty good not what I expected

Pretty good not what I expected

posted 7 months ago by jekporkins (1970)
6 replies | jump to latest

I went in pretty cold. I saw one trailer so I knew it was a WW2 movie and Guy Ritchie was directing.

If I'm giving it a grade I'd say it was a solid B. Cast was fun but nobody really stood out except Eiza González. She had a lot more scenes than anyone and she was locked in. When there is action it's frenetic. You have a fun ride with these characters, especially Alan Ritchson's beast. The guy is freakin' huge.

I was expecting a little more crazy with a Guy Ritchie movie, and he's pretty restrained here. There are moments but it's a pretty straightforward movie, which I suspect is because Ritchie was hamstrung to stick close to the true story source. It drags a little in the middle because one of the trickiest parts of the story is them getting a sailboat around the African coast.

If you're looking for an action flick you will be slightly disappointed because there are only a few scenes that deliver, but when they show up you're riveted. However, it's a good time for someone looking for a different type of WW2 movie with a solid cast.

[–] letess (1513) 7 months ago

Saying something is true and then making the thing the furthest from the truth is what happens here. This reminded me of a Ritchie attempt of Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. It makes you wonder: In the afterlife, do people get to see the movies made about them, and if so, does this only happen in hell? Because I can’t help but think that the four guys who were real would hate how after 82 years later - and this Operation kept a secret until 2016 - that this is what they get?

All these guys (Freddy is fictitious) died before the end of WWII - in their 20s or early 30s. Gus March-Phillips died during Operation Aquatint in 1942. Graham Hayes (the inspiration for Henry Hayes in the film) was eventually captured by the Germans and executed in 1943. That same year, Geoffrey Appleyard was declared missing and presumed dead during the Allied invasion of Sicily. Alan Ritchson's Anders Lassen survived until the final weeks of the war. Anders was mortally wounded in April of 1945 during Operation Roast. The movie’s irreverence just seems kind of disrespectful to me and I couldn’t enjoy the film. Maybe someday someone will do a real movie about Operation Postmaster, and when it says it’s based on true events - it will mean it. And these heroes will get a real movie about them.

[–] Burk48917 (11354) 7 months ago

As far as movies go, this was closer to the truth than what most "based on a true story" are. Hell, Poltergeist claims it's based on a true strory. I take a movie on it's own merit, and don't consider the source material to be that important. A good movie is a good movie This was enjoyable for sure, and wasn't meant to be a retelling of history, just the basis of it.

[–] letess (1513) 7 months ago

Some people seem to like it. I kept making comparisons to Tarantino and not in a good way. The movie seems very American and not very British - also not in a good way. Seeing Bruckheimer’s name, for me, not a good thing either. Poltergeist is a bad analogy - these were real British soldiers that didn’t make it out of their 20s - which I don’t think they said that at the end when you see the actual bios, but maybe they did and I was just trying to get out of there. If they didn’t say they all died, I would wonder why they didn’t. Are they going to do a sequel? And you’re right a good movie is a good movie. This is an average big-budget American movie. Even though I love the actor who plays Churchill, he was really unrecognizable as Churchill in speech and manner, don’t you think? Compared to other actors’ portrayals like Gary Oldman or those in Peaky Blinders. The standout for me was Hero Fiennes Tiffin.

[–] Burk48917 (11354) 7 months ago

I instantly knew it was Churchill, but I thought the actor was a little hammy. It's on my watch list,but I haven't seen Peaky Binders yet. I don't think it was anything spectacular, and it was a very unusually mellow Guy Ritchie film, which disappointed me, but it was entertaining and better than most releases these days. They are not releasing this in theaters in the UK because of some massive payout from Amazon to get exclusive streaming rights, so maybe that's what led to the Americanizing. lastly, my point with poltergeist was more to illustrate how little reality has to do with movies based on reality. Based on real people or not, it's very common.

[–] Burk48917 (11354) 7 months ago

I felt pretty much exactly the same. I expected some Guy Ritchie balls to tje wall, and he was very subdued in this movie. He was in the Covenant too, so I suspect he's just growing as a director. Funny,because I avoid trailers as much as possible, but me and tje friend I went with had no idea it was based on true events.

[–] HarlemEagle42 (17730) a month ago

It's definitely trying to be a Tarantino-lite cartoon version of the real events. It doesn't always work but still a fun movie to watch for the action and cast hamming it up. I do get some gripes about it being like a comic book or more closely a video game. Because the protagonists are never in any real danger. Except for maybe Eiza Gonzalez in this one scene and I agree, she pretty much stole the movie. Not sure why she is not a bigger name.