by G. E. Uke, Reporter

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is an action comedy based on a declassified World War II mission called “Operation: Postmaster”. The purpose of this mission was to cripple the German U-boat fleet by destroying an Italian supply ship filled with carbon dioxide filters off the coast of western Africa. It’s a bit dramatized but remarkably well-made.

The premise of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is old but robust: a grand heist involving a group of talented misfits who go on a suicide mission against insurmountable odds to achieve a greater good. The leader of this merry band is Gus March-Phillips (Henry Cavill), a disgraced officer with a reputation for belligerence and insubordination. He is recruited by Winston Churchill for the task precisely because it is off the books and defies a number of existing treaties but is nevertheless vital to winning the war.

Because The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is based on a true story, it has artistic license to waive certain long-standing tropes without getting into trouble. Trope one is that there’s always an “action crisis” where the protagonists are in danger of defeat and forced to act rashly. Trope two is that there’s usually some sort of betrayal involved. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare has neither of these, so in a way it can be called a “boring” action movie. There are elements of dramatic tension, but at no point does it look like any of the protagonists are cornered or in serious danger of failure. The entertainment of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is found in its brilliant execution and its cast of characters, and here it really shines. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a macho black ops romp, with a colorful cast of bad boys (and one bad girl) who ooze 1940s charm. The costumes and period decor are crisp and evocative, really driving home the spy aesthetic. Everyone also smokes like a chimney.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare has a colorful cast of actors who do it great justice, particularly when interacting with one another. The biggest personalities in the film are Gus March-Phillip (Henry Cavill, aka Superman), Anders Lassen (Alan Ritchson, aka Hawk from Titans), Marjorie Steward (Eiza Gonzalez, aka Santanico the Vampire Queen in From Dusk Till Dawn), Heinrich Luhr (Til Schweiger, aka Thomas from Die Hochzeit), and Mr Heron (Babs Olusanmokun, aka Jamis from Dune). The others do an okay job, but aren’t given enough lines or interaction to really shine.

Henry Cavill plays a good rogue in this shoot-em-up film, and you can tell he enjoyed it because the role involved more humor than his usual fare (Clark Kent and Geralt of Rivia were very stoic guys). Alan Ritchson has always played a certain “type” of character: the semi-stoic tough guy with a biting sense of humor. In The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare he does the same thing but wears a beanie and these adorable little round spectacles and speaks in a Swedish accent, which contrasts with his brutal physicality in a way that’s oddly charming.

Eiza Gonzalez is a sharp and witty femme fatale who manages to convey a surprising depth of emotion and intellect while remaining true to the 1940s ambiance. Her karaoke stint is nothing short of amazing, and I consider her performance the best in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare simply because of the emotional tension and powerful personality exchanges she has with Til Schweiger…who makes a fantastic evil Nazi businessman. Just fantastic. They really go out of their way to make his face as evil as possible, and then they give you LOTS of that evil face. It’s good stuff. Babs Olusanmokun is something of an enigma to me because he’s very stoic and soft-spoken in all the roles I’ve seen him in. But his silent expressions convey a great deal.

The straightforward nature of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare reminds me a lot of the action films I watched growing up as a kid, before there *had* to be bombastic plot twists to hold the interest of a public inundated with media to the point of disillusionment. Curiously, this makes it the sort of movie one can watch over and over again without disappointment. It remains consistently satisfying in its predictability and the honesty and realism of its narrative, unlike those films where the thrill of a surprise “twist” wears off and is glossed over in search of the next high. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare does precisely what it sets out to do, and does it well without any extraneous bells or whistles. The producers actually shun melodrama in favor of realism, avoiding unnecessary “close calls” where they don’t contribute to the story.

Rating:
ComicsOnline gives The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare – 4 out of 5 stars for its honesty, energy, costumes, period sets, and excellent acting.

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