YNOT at the Movies

Lying off the coast of West Africa in the Gulf of Guinea, Fernando Po (now renamed Bioko) was used by the Nazi Germany as a refueling hub for their U-boats that controlled the Atlantic during World War II. In 1942, the British government's Special Operations Executive (SOE) organized a secret mission named Operation Postmaster to sabotage this base, which would clear the way for US ships to join the fight against the Nazis. However, the mission was not actually authorized not by the British government, but secretly by the Prime Minister Churchill himself.

The director Guy Ritchie fictionalized this impossible mission into an entertaining action comedy, "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" (USA/UK/Turkey 2024 | 120 min.). As if watching skilled game players playing a video game, a group of unconventional fighters kill Nazis on screen like no others. Even if you don't believe that it can be that easy, you still can't help but cheer for them.

As the war goes on and the British is on the blink of losing to Nazi Germany in 1941, with the support from Churchill (Rory Kinnear), a secret service officer M (Cary Elwes) and the creator of the 007 character, Ian Fleming (Freddie Fox), summons ex-con Gus March-Phillips (Henry Cavill) to form a team on a secret mission to destroy German's U-boat supplies in Fernando Po. Because it's unauthorized by the British government, if they are caught by the British at sea, they will be in prison; if they are caught by the Germans, they will be tortured to death.

Gus gladly takes on the task, besides the cigars on the table. He assembles the members of the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, named by Churchill, in no time: a ship navigator expert Henry Hayes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin); an underwater bomb installation specialist Freddy Alvarez (Henry Golding), a.k.a. the Frogman; a master planner Geoffrey Appleyard (Alex Pettyfer); a killing machine Anders Lassen (Alan Ritchson), a.k.a. The Danish Hammer. Before they sail off for their mission, they have to rescue their master planner Geoffrey from the Nazis' interrogation cell. That seems way easier to do than what they are about to accomplish later.

The ministry also gets intelligence from two spy agents: a glamorous Jewish actress Marjorie Stewart (Eiza González) who manipulates the Nazi officer Heinrich Luhr (Til Schweiger), and a well-connected black casino owner Heron (Babs Olusanmokun) whose parties are magnets for the Nazis officers and soldiers.

Even though they are surrounded by the Nazis, they are able to carry out their grand scheme without a scratch, and pave the way for the US to join the war.

The director Guy Ritchie takes the lighter approach on this life and death ordeal that was an almost impossible mission. He wants to make a comedy more than a thriller. Actually, there is hardly a thrilling moment in the film because all the Germans are portrayed like zombies. As if they are either blind or deaf, they are too dumb to notice all the killings around them when the Postmaster team trespasses anywhere they want to. Any verbal exchange with the Nazis is like delivering lines in a stand-up comedy club.

If it were that easy to fight against the Nazis, World War II would not have lasted that long. But this film uses that event as an entertaining material to let the audience have a good time with the team they are rooting for. It's like you are watching a game in a sports bar, how can you not have a good time when you see your team winning on screen, all the time?

This film is not a history lesson, nor is it a thrilling mission impossible or 007 installment, it's just an exhibition of a fun game that you can't help but to cheer on.

"The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" opens on Friday, April 19, 2024.