The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Trailer Barges Online
Guy Ritchie is ready for a new kind of war. Lionsgate has released a trailer for the Snatch and Sherlock Holmes director’s next film, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Based on a true story – and based on the book by Damien Lewis (not the actor) – The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is about the birth of the Special Forces concept, as a team of highly trained soldiers is assembled by the British Special Operations Executive to wage “ irregular warfare” against the Nazis during World War II. Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding, Alex Pettyfer, Til Schweiger, and Cary Elwes star in the action-comedy, which is written by Ritchie, Arash Amel, Paul Tamsay, and Eric Johnson. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare will arrive in theaters on April 19, 2024, and you can see the trailer below:
I really hope this turns out to be one of Guy Ritchie’s better films because The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare looks excellent (and has a terrific title). Based on the trailer’s tone, I assume the movie is more fiction than fact and very loosely based on the book, but that’s fine with me if it’s as entertaining as it looks. The problem is that Guy Ritchie is one of the most inconsistent directors out there, and you never know which way any of his films is going to swing. Last year’s Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre looked good, too, but it was abysmally awful. (By the way, does it look like Cary Elwes is playing essentially the same role in this that he did in Operation Fortune?) On the other hand, Wrath of Man was completely different from how the trailer made it look, and it was very good. The first Sherlock Holmes was okayish, but the second one was lousy (outside of Jared Harris’ outstanding Moriarty, who deserved a much better movie). Snatch was good, but Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels was dull. I know a lot of people love him, but for me, Ritchie isn’t a sure bet either way. But I love this concept, and I’m happy to see Henry Cavill in something that might make good use of him. Interestingly, James Bond author Ian Fleming is a character in this movie, as he was one of the guys who created the commando unit it depicts, so this is probably the closest Cavill will get to the character many want him to play (aside from The Man from UNCLE, also a Ritchie film and also connected to Fleming). And I like seeing Alan Ritchson parlay some of his Reacher fame to get in a big movie (aside from Fast X). The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare has tremendous potential; let’s hope Ritchie’s better filmmaking angels are at work this time.
