What do you get when you cross a Quentin Tarantino film with James Bond?  In short, it is The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.  Whenever you have such familiar comparisons, one might look at the end result as derivative.  It is, though if you are going to steal, it might as well be from cinematic material that makes sense with what you are trying to accomplish.  My review should make this clear, particular if you have seen any of the other pieces I am referencing.  In most cases, I would be critical of such a rip-off, but I am mostly okay with what I saw.  There are some definite criticisms, and they will be of the historical and spiritual variety.  What this review shall be addressing is a World War II film.  The blessing for a filmmaker in this sub-genre is that Nazis make for convenient villains.  Those other movies to which I have alluded have, at times, resorted to similar tactics to justify gleeful killing on the part of the good guys.  It is a tragedy when the course of human events leads to such outcomes, a lesson God has been instilling in me as I have grown in my Faith.  In sum, what I am trying to say is that the movie works, though I wish it could work differently.

With a title like The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, you might not expect beginning with an elegant yacht being stopped off the coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean by a German patrol boat.  When the sailing vessel is boarded by Nazi mariners, they are met by Gus March-Phillips (Henry Cavill) and Anders Lassen (Alan Ritchson).  The former is English, the latter Danish, but they are posing as Swedish citizens on a pleasure cruise.  When the German sailors find a hidden compartment containing one of their compatriots, Henry Hayes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin), and the shooting starts, we realize that there is more going on here than a strangely timed holiday.  Once all the boarders are killed, their last passenger, demolitions expert Freddy Alvarez (Henry Golding), returns from having placed charges on the German ship, blowing it up and sinking it.  How we get to this point is the subject of the next hour or so, dealt with in a flashback.  In London, Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Rory Kinnear) is trying to come up with ways to strike back at what appears to be an unstoppable German war machine.  Many in his government and military call for him to negotiate a truce that would allow their island nation to survive, or face being removed from office.  One officer in the room, Brigadier Gubbins (Cary Elwes), also known as “M” (seriously), has a different idea.  One of the problems facing the United Kingdom is the threat posed by German U-boats, or submarines.  Because they rely on foreign help, mainly from the United States that has to cross that same body of water to deliver it, the interference of the German navy is proving to be a problem.  The alternative, worked up by M’s underling, Ian Fleming (Freddie Fox, and yes, that Ian Fleming), is to send in a covert team to disrupt the ability of the U-boats to continue attacking allied shipping.  The person chosen for this apparently suicidal, and off-the-books mission is Gus.  He is not well-liked by the current government, and is brought in to meet with M in handcuffs.  With M watching as he steals a number of items in the office, he agrees to head to Africa on two conditions.  The first is that he will be able to pick the rest of his team.  Two others already attached are Mr. Heron (Babs Olusanmokun), a club owner on their target island, and Marjorie Stewart (Eiza González).  These last two go ahead of the others to set the stage for the raid.  Mr. Heron has the contacts, while Marjorie’s role is to pass herself off as a gold trader and ingratiate herself with Heinrich Luhr (Til Schweiger), the Nazi official in charge of the U-boat re-supply facility that has sprung up on this island off the coast of Africa.  The other condition is that Gus be allowed to rescue his long-time compatriot and friend, Geoffrey Appleyard (Alex Pettyfer), from captivity.  Since where he is imprisoned is on the way to their destination, they are allowed to proceed.  With this accomplished, and Mr. Heron and Marjorie learning of the supplies being housed in the Italian freighter they intend to sink, everything appears to be going as planned.  Yet, as these things so often do, plans need to be changed.  The team’s original roundabout route to the island has to be shortened when it is discovered that it intends to leave three days early.  Next, the drunken captain of the supply ship lets slip that his boat has been double-hulled, meaning the explosives they have brought will not accomplish the task of sinking it.  While communicating with headquarters about what to do, the Admiralty learns of Gus’ mission and orders him to return to London to face charges.  Gus politely tells them to get lost, though in more colorful language.  Instead, with some help from the local population, they carry out their mission, though with some modifications.  Because of the problems, it is decided that they will steal the freighter instead of destroying it.  This goes mostly well for them as they expect, though Marjorie is put in a difficult situation when Heinrich figures out that she is of Jewish extraction.  As Gus watches intently from the deck of his permanently borrowed tug, he must wait until she has murdered the Nazi and comes skimming in his direction with Mr. Heron in a speed boat.  However, because of the ire of the leaders of the British navy, Gus and the rest of his co-conspirators are imprisoned after they rendezvous with a destroyer.  It is not until they return to London and meet with Churchill that they are pardoned and commended for their service.

After the meeting with Churchill at the end of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Service, the film goes to the end credits. Before they roll, we are treated to postscripts listing the awards and service record of Gus and his team subsequent to Operation Postmaster.  This codename, and the information shared at this point, underscore how the film is based on a true story.  “Based” is a loose word in this context.  The mission and those who took part in it were real.  It is also a story that I had never heard of before seeing this movie.  What is evident to this historian, though, is they did not do well with historical accuracy.  I will give director Guy Ritchie credit despite this lapse in judgement.  The movie is clever and maintains a mostly fun tone throughout, but we will talk later as to why this last bit is problematic.  Rather, it seems like they took the existence of this secret operation and used it to tell whatever version of events they wanted.  This is seen in the broader context and individual moments.  In relation to larger events, the notion that this raid put such a dent in U-boat attacks as to bring them to a stop early in the war is stretching believability, to say the least.  I do not mean to diminish the importance of Operation Postmaster, or the heroism of those who took part in it.  Every little bit helps in war, and this was somewhat of a motto of the Allies in the darker days of the conflict.  Yet, capturing or sinking one supply ship was not going to significantly alter the function of U-boats.  What is also altered is the characters themselves.  To look at pictures of the real-life people the actors portrayed alongside their cinematic counterparts is laughable.  This is perhaps most notable with Anders.  He is played by the bulging muscles of Alan Ritchson.  The one who fought bravely in World War II was slight, unlike Anders.  I can also find no evidence that he wielded a bow and arrow.  I have no idea why they chose this affectation.  And if you want a deeper cut of historical errata, it is difficult to imagine Nazi officers going to a party anywhere in the world where jazz is being sung so freely.  Normally, these would be grounds for me to suggest steering clear of this one, but I can stomach them.

What is more difficult to stomach in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is all the killing.  I get that what we are seeing is a war movie, but Gus and the rest of his men (and woman) seem to derive pleasure from taking Nazi lives.  As I mentioned in the introduction, the Nazis usually make for convenient cinematic villains.  God wants us to go beyond convenience.  What can be said on the positive side is that Gus and those following him are willing to lay down their lives for a just cause.  It is the kind of heroic sacrifice of which a nation can be proud, but the movie turns it into a glorification of murder, essentially.  However, let us take a closer look at the idea of sacrifice.  Indeed, the Bible tells us in John 15:13 that there is nothing greater one can do than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  It is an idea I have discussed when covering other films of a similar ilk, but I do not wish to diminish such acts in any way.  At the same time, bodily sacrifice is not always what is called for in a situation.  In war, like what we see in the film, such an outcome is more likely.  In real life, the Bible also asserts that God desires conversion of hearts not physical gifts.  This is often talked about as mercy or obedience, which would be a fruit of that conversion, but the idea is the same.  Lives, all of our lives, are more precious to God.  It is sad that Nazi’s then, and how we view them now, appear to be beyond reason.  It is as if this is the justification time and again, not just in this film, but often for their wholesale slaughter on film.  Further, it oversimplifies World War II, which was anything but.  Of course, one does not so easily reason with an enemy, but think of the greater benefits of doing so versus casually strolling through a German military installation and murdering anyone who sticks their head out. God takes no pleasure in these deaths, and neither should we.

The one thing you can take pleasure from The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is that it is a solidly made piece of cinema.  As alluded to in the introduction, it definitely smacks of other films.  With the music and the way text is displayed on the screen, I felt like I was watching Inglorious Basterds (2009).  The music helped, too.  Those factors combine for a fine, if not spectacular, viewing experience.