'Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare' review: The unreal adventures of real WWII rule-breakers

Lionsgate

We’re told Guy Ritchie’s slam-bang WWII thriller “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” is “based on recently declassified files of the British War Department, and inspired by true events,” and there’s further confirmation of that when we see black-and-white photos of the real-life heroes portrayed in the story. All well and terrific.

Still, I’m going to go out on a particularly sturdy limb and guess that the actual ultra-secret combat group brought to cinematic glory by some of the most attractive humans on the planet, including Eiza Gonzalez, Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson and Henry Golding, were most likely not offering constant comedic banter while they were pulling off a mission so insanely unconventional, so incredibly daring, so madcap in its mad-cappery (I know that’s not a word but it SHOULD be), that they could make a movie about it. This is a Guy Ritchie action-comedy through and through, which means it’s going to be a stylish, cartoonishly violent, slick and relatively mindless popcorn movie. We’ll take it.

Adapted from Damien Lewis’ book “Churchill’s Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of World War II” and featuring stunning visuals from the location shooting in the beautiful city of Antalya, Turkey, “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” is a fantastic blending of some basic facts and a whole lot of fictionalization, including shuffling of the timeline.

In the “Ministry” world, a beleaguered Winston Churchill (Rory Kinnear) approves an off-the-books Naval Intelligence Operation designed to sink the cargo ships that are providing essential supplies to the German U-boats that are destroying the Brits, controlling the North Atlantic and essentially blocking the Americans from joining the Allied Forces at sea. Dubbed “Operation Postmaster,” it’s so risky and so outside the normal rules of warfare that if the recruits for the mission are caught, they’re going to prison.

The Naval Intelligence division is headed by Brigadier Gubbins, aka “M” (Cary Elwes), who is aided by Freddie Fox’s Ian Fleming — yes, THAT Ian Fleming. They enlist the services of the notorious and quite dangerous Gus March-Phillipps (Henry Cavill), who assembles a squad that includes the actress-singer-markswoman Marjorie Stewart (Eiza Gonzalez); the Nazi-despising, one-man wrecking crew Anders Lassen, aka “The Danish Hammer” (Alan Ritchson); the Irish sailor Henry Hayes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin), the crafty master planner Geoffrey Appleyard (Alex Pettyfer) and the demolitions expert Freddy Alvarez (Henry Golding).

Off they go on their “Mission: Impossible” meets “Inglorious Basterds,” which lands them in the Spanish port of Fernando Po, off West Africa, where the Italian supply ship the Duchessa is moored. That’s the target. In Fernando Po, we meet the undercover comms expert Richard Heron (Babs Olusanmokun), who runs the casino where all are welcome (name-check to “Casablanca”), and the obligatory Sweating Sneering Loathsome Nazi Commandant, one Heinrich Luhr (Til Schweiger). It’s a terrific cast, and everyone seems to be having a great time assuming clichéd but quite entertaining roles.

With a justified running time of two hours, “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” finds room for just about everyone in the ensemble to have a showcase moment. One highlight is when Marjorie slips into a femme fatale dress and sings a sultry version of “Mack the Knife” in both English and German to keep the Nazis occupied while her colleagues are running all over the harbor and executing their ridiculously complicated plan.

Of course, complications ensue, and there’s a call to abort the mission, but these wisecracking rogues aren’t about to start taking orders, right? They’re having too much fun blowing things up and dispatching Nazis in creatively gruesome fashion. It’s ungentlemanly, but also quite heroic, and devilishly good fun.