409: The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

[00:00:00] For the ones who know safety isn't a catchphrase, it's a culture. And the ones who help make sure everyone makes it home safe. For the safety-minded who watch everyone's backs, Grainger offers supplies and solutions for every industry,

[00:00:15] as well as safety assessments and training to keep your facilities safe and your people safer. Call, clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Grainger. For the ones who get it done. 116. Let's get to the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which is now on VOD.

[00:00:37] It is directed by Guy Ritchie, who has been very prolific as of late. Stars Henry Cavill, Alan Richson, Alex Pettifer, Isaac Gonzalez, Henry Golding, and a few others. And the synopsis is, the British military recruits a small group of highly skilled soldiers

[00:00:57] to strike against German forces behind enemy lines during World War II. So when this one came out, I think it sort of came and went. Like I feel like I didn't even realize when it first was released, I didn't even realize it was out,

[00:01:10] and it was a Guy Ritchie movie. I was like, oh, this is some new blockbuster with Henry Cavill. And especially since, as I said, Guy Ritchie has been really prolific over the last few years.

[00:01:21] He's always been fairly prolific, but he had Wrath of Man, he had The Covenant, and Operation Fortune last year. So he's really been making movies one after another. But besides that, the World War II story, true story, I don't know how much is true,

[00:01:37] I'm sure a lot of it is exaggerated, but the World War II setting, I'm a big World War II history nut, so that intrigued me and got me going. Henry Cavill has really grown on me a lot.

[00:01:48] Alan Richardson, I have seen some of Reacher and I think he's very good. I don't think he's an amazing actor as of now, but I like him overall. So there were certain elements that brought me in,

[00:02:01] and overall I'm a Guy Ritchie fan, I watch whatever he does at this point. Heard fairly mixed things about it, some people really, really liked it, some people just called it a knockoff Inglourious Bastards, which it definitely isn't the same thing as Inglourious Bastards,

[00:02:16] it's a simplified action-oriented version of that for anyone who's unaware. So going in, wasn't really sure exactly what to expect, how I was going to feel, and overall, it's okay. I feel like I watched it maybe a week or two ago,

[00:02:32] and I feel like I remember almost nothing about it. It's watchable, there's nothing offensively wrong with it, I don't think, and it is sad that Inglourious Bastards is a thing, and it's so well-known, because it's hard to beat Inglourious Bastards

[00:02:48] in terms of this sort of story, the rebel World War II group taking down Nazis, that kind of thing, it really is the defining version of that. So you can't really not think about that movie while watching this,

[00:03:01] and while it does have certain moments of cool Guy Ritchie action and charm, and I think Henry Cavill is great in it, it is a little bland, a little forgettable at times. Felt kind of long and dragged, really, in the third act.

[00:03:17] I felt like I was just really ready for it to be over, I didn't really care that much about what was happening, I feel like I really didn't get to know anyone at all. There's such a big group of characters that there's not much time spent with anyone,

[00:03:30] so that all sounds pretty bad, but really, it is still entertaining. I was curious to see where it went, and I just like spending time with some of those cast members, and in the setting as well, I think it looks very good.

[00:03:43] And it has some great iconic Guy Ritchie scores and soundtracks and all that, so certain things work for sure, and any Guy Ritchie fan, I think, would enjoy it. And I can see the average audience member maybe not reading into it as much as maybe I did,

[00:04:02] being such a huge fan of Inglourious Basterds and this sort of film. And I do also appreciate, not to be a run-on here, I do appreciate that it is a fairly big budget movie, it's not a big franchise or anything like that,

[00:04:17] and even just the title alone is kind of cool. And I do like actually, speaking of, before I forget, the final end credit tags of showing the real people who were involved,

[00:04:30] I won't spoil it too much, because it was actually really, really cool of who is in this movie and which characters would actually go on to be the central part of movie franchises later on, once the war had ended and everything like that.

[00:04:44] So I won't say anything else than that, because it is a cool reveal. But other than that, not one I feel the need to go back to anytime soon.

[00:04:52] If it's on TV, it feels like a TV movie, like one of those ones you can just kind of pop on, look at every once in a while, see some cool action and move on. But not really best of the year, not a favorite guy.

[00:05:03] Ritchie movie, a little underwhelming, a little disappointing I guess you could even say, but not terrible, just is what it is, you know? So that one is a 3 out of 5. For the safety-minded who watch everyone's backs, Grainger offers supplies and solutions for every industry,

[00:05:34] as well as safety assessments and training to keep your facilities safe and your people safer. Call, clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Grainger. For the ones who get it done.