The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: Inglourious Basterds, But British

I enjoyed this way more than I expected to. I haven’t seen a film this fun since… well, the last time I watched Inglourious Basterds.

I don’t know how easy it is to pick up on this from my other reviews, but I’m a huge Quentin Tarantino fan. And Inglourious Basterds has the distinction being my favourite film of all time (and my go-to example of a perfect film). I certainly intend to wax Shakespearian about it in a future review, but it was a surface level similarity to this film I hold to such high regard that made me see Guy Ritchie’s newest entry to his filmography at theatres and go. “This seems fun.”

Is it as good as Basterds? No, and I didn’t expect it to be. So I shall end the comparisons at this paragraph.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a war film set during World War II that follows a rag-tag group of insubordinate soldiers tasked by then Prime Minister Winston Churchill with taking down the ship that supplies the German U-boats by any means necessary, so that America can finally enter the war.

It’s an action film that’s “Based on true events”, so just assume artistic license unless certain otherwise. Just a primer for anyone concerned about Historical Accuracy.

Also, Ian Fleming is a character in this movie, which I think is neat. (Ian Fleming created the character of James Bond and wrote the original novels.)

There’s little point in listing the pros and cons of this film, because if you don’t think it’s a fun movie you probably won’t care for it. And that’s the one thing this movie has going for it. It’s violent. The action set pieces are goofy at times but in a way that’s earnest. The bag guy isn’t very complicated or even “fun” really, but it’s refreshing to me to watch a film where I actually find the protagonists more fun to watch than the villain.

It’s also very tense at the right moments. The build up to the action scenes, and even to the climatic action blow out as well is palpable. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to watch a film all the way to the end without wanting to take breaks. It’s an issue I have with films I think are much better than this, but The Ministry really kept me at the edge of my seat, waiting for everything to build up. And it’s cooler when you realize that everything you expect to happen happens and you’re still waiting for it. It’s a very subversion-less film, which ironically makes it very subversive nowadays.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is the most fun film I’ve seen a long time, and that’s by far the best thing it could have taken from Inglourious Basterds. It’s certainly my favorite movie of the year so far.

I give it a 7/10. Will probably score better upon rewatch.