Guy Ritchie pays homage to Quentin Tarantino with this film. He steals many trademark Tarantino details. The rough looking title cards. The Ennio Morricone western music. The amped-up characters and dialogue. The fictionalization of history. Ritchie even casts a member of the Inglorious Basterds, Til Schweiger. Tarantino is a maestro at dialogue, and along with it interesting characters. In TMOUW, over-the-top tact is applied to all aspects of this movie. Everyone is overly polite, staying composed and proper amidst the horrors of world war.
Despite being produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, this movie does not rely on a bunch of action scenes to be successful. Instead, cartoonish characters propel the story with the undertone of danger. It is based on a real mission that took place in WWII. However, the main characters exude flamboyance that shows the film is more interested in having fun than going through any suffering. One would guess that such desensitization was an effort to make this film PG-13, but it is R rated.
This is another big budget release following the recent trend of English Super Spy movies, such as Kingsman, Man from UNCLE, Argylle, to name a few. I embraced the stylish first Kingsman movie, only to find the sequels to be misfires. Man from UNCLE was more interested in it's style over substance. Argylle (I'm told) totally missed the mark. "Ministry" fixed what was wrong with those other movies, delivering the goods and not taking itself too seriously. Which is too bad, because if this was toned down just a little bit, and included more realism, this could have been a serious thriller with more gravitas.
However, this was not the filmmaker's aim. These are super spies that have super human abilities, and never suffer a scratch as they take on overwhelming odds. The filmmakers aim was unambiguous, having fun at the movies. And I did. I had a smile on my face from the very beginning once it was made clear that this was pulp fiction. Henry Cavill and Alan Ritchson's characters are introduced as portraying simple tourists on a boat. Of course, the audience knows from their ridiculously buff bodies that they are ready to rumble.
Then comes the setup, as given by Winston Churchill. The actor chosen for the role played Churchill like a mob boss, an interesting twist on this fictionalized WWII universe. We are also introduced to author Ian Fleming, with a nod to Cavill's character being Fleming's inspiration for James Bond. However, other than the extreme politeness all characters possess, there is little else to Cavill that resembles the James Bond persona. In general, there is little subtext to the characters and their motivation. That on-the-nose tone for me energized the story. Almost every actor cast exudes a strong personality, almost cartoon-like. So it is apropos that the key moments on this film are portrayed in a cartoon-ish way. The action scenes are slickly choreographed, all the while with the heroes engaging in light banter, resembling the classic Looney Tunes overly polite Goofy Gophers.
Mention must be made for Eiza Gonzalez, who plays a femme fatale during the era when such characters were lynchpins of underground organizations. Gonzalez commands the screen with charismatic persona. Til Schweiger likewise is played in broad strokes as the despicable Nazi bad guy. He needs to say little, since his very presence communicates his evil intentions.
The third act plays out on a single night, as an intricate plot relies on the timing and placement of key characters. When things go afoul, you are uncertain and how things will play out, despite the fact our main characters are invincible.
It is obvious that the intention was for "Ministry" to be a major tentpole film, with two big name action stars, a big name action director, and a decent budget. Critics were split on the fact the movie was tackling such an interesting subject based on a real incident, that should maybe not have taken the cartoonish tone. But that's not this movie. Maybe another filmmaker will take the same incident and turn into a realistic thriller. But Guy Ritchie wanted to entertain audiences instead, and I was.
Despite being produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, this movie does not rely on a bunch of action scenes to be successful. Instead, cartoonish characters propel the story with the undertone of danger. It is based on a real mission that took place in WWII. However, the main characters exude flamboyance that shows the film is more interested in having fun than going through any suffering. One would guess that such desensitization was an effort to make this film PG-13, but it is R rated.
This is another big budget release following the recent trend of English Super Spy movies, such as Kingsman, Man from UNCLE, Argylle, to name a few. I embraced the stylish first Kingsman movie, only to find the sequels to be misfires. Man from UNCLE was more interested in it's style over substance. Argylle (I'm told) totally missed the mark. "Ministry" fixed what was wrong with those other movies, delivering the goods and not taking itself too seriously. Which is too bad, because if this was toned down just a little bit, and included more realism, this could have been a serious thriller with more gravitas.
However, this was not the filmmaker's aim. These are super spies that have super human abilities, and never suffer a scratch as they take on overwhelming odds. The filmmakers aim was unambiguous, having fun at the movies. And I did. I had a smile on my face from the very beginning once it was made clear that this was pulp fiction. Henry Cavill and Alan Ritchson's characters are introduced as portraying simple tourists on a boat. Of course, the audience knows from their ridiculously buff bodies that they are ready to rumble.
Then comes the setup, as given by Winston Churchill. The actor chosen for the role played Churchill like a mob boss, an interesting twist on this fictionalized WWII universe. We are also introduced to author Ian Fleming, with a nod to Cavill's character being Fleming's inspiration for James Bond. However, other than the extreme politeness all characters possess, there is little else to Cavill that resembles the James Bond persona. In general, there is little subtext to the characters and their motivation. That on-the-nose tone for me energized the story. Almost every actor cast exudes a strong personality, almost cartoon-like. So it is apropos that the key moments on this film are portrayed in a cartoon-ish way. The action scenes are slickly choreographed, all the while with the heroes engaging in light banter, resembling the classic Looney Tunes overly polite Goofy Gophers.
Mention must be made for Eiza Gonzalez, who plays a femme fatale during the era when such characters were lynchpins of underground organizations. Gonzalez commands the screen with charismatic persona. Til Schweiger likewise is played in broad strokes as the despicable Nazi bad guy. He needs to say little, since his very presence communicates his evil intentions.
The third act plays out on a single night, as an intricate plot relies on the timing and placement of key characters. When things go afoul, you are uncertain and how things will play out, despite the fact our main characters are invincible.
It is obvious that the intention was for "Ministry" to be a major tentpole film, with two big name action stars, a big name action director, and a decent budget. Critics were split on the fact the movie was tackling such an interesting subject based on a real incident, that should maybe not have taken the cartoonish tone. But that's not this movie. Maybe another filmmaker will take the same incident and turn into a realistic thriller. But Guy Ritchie wanted to entertain audiences instead, and I was.