Babs Olusanmokun stars as Heron in Guy Ritchie’s “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” (Photo Credit: Daniel Smith).
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(“The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” trailer courtesy of Lionsgate Movies)
Filmmaker Guy Ritchie has definitely gotten his flowers throughout his career.
But can RegalMag.com give the brother even more flowers because he keeps dropping gems, and his latest flick continues the unstoppable momentum?
With “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,” Ritchie directs a movie that is brilliantly gangsta because of Alan Ritchson and Henry Cavill, effortlessly smooth courtesy of Babs Olusanmokun and breathtakingly sexy thanks to Eliza Gonzales.
“The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” comes out at the perfect time in history.
Sure, the movie takes place during Adolf Hitler’s attempt to take over Europe.
But Hitler’s moves often remind people of Vladimir Putin’s attempt to take over Ukraine and who knows what other countries if he is allowed to.
While “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” might make many people apprehensive because of what is happening in Ukraine, the movie proves that all it takes is a few brave men and women to change the course of history for the better.
And in a genius move, screenwriters Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson and Arash Amel present the well-written “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” in a clever and comical way that makes the seriousness of the historical event tolerable and even enjoyable.
One thing about evil is that it often takes money, power and resources to reign terror on others.
While Hitler’s evil regime marched across Europe, other countries like the United States found it nearly impossible to intervene because of Nazi U-boats.
The submarine-like boats were crucial to the Nazis initial success in World War II because they were undetectable.
Therefore, the U-boats could cruise the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and wreak havoc on the Nazis’ adversaries and even on tourist vessels that had nothing to do with the war.
At the time, many British leaders wanted to surrender to the Nazis because they did not see a way out as Hitler continued towards total European domination.
To stop the U-boats and their devastating impact was to stop the vessels that were used to replenish the U-boats like those containing fuel, etc.
But to destroy such vessels would require soldiers willing to take on a near-suicide mission.
Therefore, the British government would never approve of such a daunting task.
As a result, the mission would have to be completed by “criminals” who did not give a you-know-what like Gus March-Phillips (Cavill), Anders Lassen (Ritchson), Geoffrey Appleyard (Alex Pettyfer), Freddy Alvarez (Henry Golding) and Henry Hayes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin).
Even with a crew of criminals and assassins, the British secret force will need help from people close to the Nazi regime like Heron (Olusanmokun) to get close enough to the enemy so that they can know when and where to strike the evil empire.
Once the team can get close enough to their Nazi opps, they will still need something, or someone, to distract the opps from seeing the plan coming.
That is where a beautiful woman like Marjorie Stewart (Gonzales) comes into the equation because nothing can hasten a man’s downfall more than a stunning, intelligent and conniving woman.
And Marjorie is all that and then some.
And if a beautiful woman is not enough of a distraction, why not try alcohol and partying?
“The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” could have easily become disrespectful of such a horrific time in the world’s history.
Infamously, “Django Unchained” received criticism from people like filmmaker Spike Lee, and this publication, for seemingly making light of slavery.
However, maybe that is needed to make history more digestible because turbulent eras of history can easily turn off people who are not history buffs.
Making the tragedies of the past a little more entertaining might be more effective in teaching younger generations of what happened in the past so that being informed will make them more adamant about not letting it happen again.
“The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” is so well-done and well-acted that it makes mass murder entertaining and comical, even though it sounds reprehensible to even write such a statement.
And although many people do not know straight up killers and assassins, the characters all have relatability because many will know people with some of the same qualities that the main characters have.
Gus is a straight up thief.
Many people know a person that they cannot leave anything valuable, or worthless, around because it will most certainly be gone when they turn their head.
Furthermore, people will know people like Gus and Anders who think that everything is comical.
But in the case of Gus and Anders, even murder is a laughing matter.
Heron is that brother that is so smooth that nothing bothers him, even if it is life or death.
He has the sophistication to rub elbows with the movers and shakers of government.
However, he still has a savageness about him underneath that classy façade.
And Marjorie is that young lady who relies on her beauty when need be.
But behind the superficial, lays a smart and skilled person that can outdo the men at their own game.
Unfortunately, even smart and skilled assassins might have their work cut out for them when they must go head-to-head with the diabolical, Heinrich Luhr (Til Schweiger).
Although people know the ultimate outcome of the Nazis and World War II, “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” has enough twists and turns to not get too predictable.
Even though “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” is not quite Ritchie’s best work, the adrenaline rush of a movie definitely deserves its flowers in a flower-filled career for the filmmaker.
REGAL RATINGS
FOUR CROWNS=EXCELLENT
THREE CROWNS=GOOD
TWO CROWNS=AVERAGE
ONE CROWN=POOR
