The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is the latest film from director Guy Ritchie. The film revolves around the Special Operations Executive, a covert British organization created by Winston Churchill to conduct espionage operations in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. Leading the group is Gas March-Phillips (Henry Cavill) with Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding, Alex Pettyfer, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and Babs Olusanmokun rounding out the rest of the group. Also starring Cary Elwes, Til Schweiger, and Rory Kinnear.

If anyone is familiar with Guy Ritchie’s filmography, his work span over several decades, but it’s been as of late where it seems like he has at least one movie coming out per year. This all seemed to start 2019’s Aladdin, a film that didn’t really fit Ritchie’s style. Ever since, I am convinced that he has been making up for it. His films have been consistent in quality, at least to me, so seeing this film intrigued me into seeing if he could keep up the momentum. Overall, I think he does, but his ability to pump out films fast now results in this film being rushed in moments that shouldn’t be rushed.

Starting off with the positives, the film delivers on being at least entertaining. The core cast lead by Cavill is great. It’s unfortunate that Cavill is being placed in films as of late that is getting less than stellar reviews. He’s an exceptional actor, and he’s having a great time here. The chemistry that he has with the other actors, particularly with Ritchson’s character, makes the film enjoyable from the action to the humor.

When it comes to the action and humor, it works due to Ritchie being able to pull the performances needed from the talent. Specifically, one of Ritchie’s better strength’s is being able to make a film move at a fast pace. The film give me the impression of his earlier work with the comic-book style tone; however, that’s where the film faults.

For a true story, it’s almost a shame that it has that kind of tone. Instead of creating a grounded film that builds around these characters, the film instead chooses to be a grand spectacle to stimulate viewers better, which isn’t needed. If it was fictional, then I could understand that. Due to this, the film can have scenes that are incredibly rushed when it really needed time to slow down. For example, we found out that Cavill’s & González’s characters get married in real life after the film’s events, but they actors maybe share just a handful of scenes together and those scenes don’t even remotely give the impression that they find interest in one another.

Once again thanks to Ritchie’s direction, the dialogue can be snappy and enjoyable. It’s able to create witty moments due to the comedic timing; however, the film’s dialogue has its moments of cringe and unbelievability due to the film’s style. There’s a scene towards the end that really doesn’t make much sense and it doesn’t help either when a character has dialogue similar to the MCU. I was surprised that it wasn’t mentioned that these characters were going to become the Avengers. That’s how the film sets itself to be. That’s great that these people became heroes, but when they are portrayed as comic-book heroes, that can hurt a bit of the impact that these people really had.

Overall, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare delivers on what exactly you want if you are looking forward to it. To me, it delivered on the director Guy Ritchie’s signature style, yet it still could have done more to be a more grounded film that built on its characterization. I think if you know what you are getting yourself into, then you will enjoy it.

VERDICT: Pretty Good