You have to be careful with verbosely-named action teams, cinematically-speaking. You’re looking for that mismatched bunch of violent oddbods, but are you after The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen? Or the spooky kids of Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children? Or could it even be, um, The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society? (Ok, maybe not so violent on that front.) If you’re Guy Ritchie, the answer you’re looking for is The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare – that’s the name of his next film, the latest from the ludicrously busy British filmmaker, who also has The Gentlemen spin-off series (unrelated to Gentlemanly Warfare) readying to launch on Netflix soon. This one’s a wartime romp based on a historical World War 2 mission – with Henry Cavill letting loose as an agent whose unconventional methods might just reap results. Watch the trailer:
Looks fun, right? While Cavill is seen in cinemas this week in Matthew Vaughn’s Argylle, there looks to be some DNA of The King’s Man here, presenting an irreverent and pulpy take on wartime espionage. It’s great to see Cavill play on a more overtly comedic register than he’s been able to before, and he’s surrounded by an ace ensemble: Reacher’s astonishingly large Alan Ritchson, Baby Driver’s Eiza González, Henry Golding, and Cary Elwes are all here too.
Here’s the official synopsis: “Based upon recently declassified files of the British War Department and inspired by true events, The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare is an action-comedy that tells the story of the first-ever special forces organisation formed during WWII by UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and a small group of military officials including author Ian Fleming. The top-secret combat unit, composed of a motley crew of rogues and mavericks, goes on a daring mission against the Nazis using entirely unconventional and utterly “ungentlemanly” fighting techniques. Ultimately their audacious approach changed the course of the war and laid the foundation for the British SAS and modern Black Ops warfare.”
Hopefully this one will continue Ritchie’s recent winning streak – since 2021, he’s released Wrath Of Man, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, and The Covenant to strong reception. And beyond Ungentlemanly Warfare and The Gentlemen series, he’s already in post-production on his next as-yet-untitled action film, and gearing up to shoot fantasy film The Fountain Of Youth to boot. Blimey. We’ll see if The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare is mission accomplished on 19 April.