Rating: ***
Review Date: 4/28/24
Directed By: Guy Ritchie
Music: Chris Benstead
Cast: Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Eiza González,
Babs Olusanmokun, Cary Elwes, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Henry Golding, Rory Kinnear,
Til Schweiger
A fictionalized retelling of Operation Postmaster, which was carried out by Major Gus March-Phillipps (Henry Cavill) of Winston Churchill's Special Operations Executive (SOE). In 1942, March-Phillipps, along with Anders Lassen (Alan Ritchson), Geoffrey Appleyard (Alex Pettyfer), Henry Hayes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin), and Freddy Alvarez (Henry Golding) set out on an unsanctioned mission to disrupt German U-boat supply lines in Africa by sinking a suspected cargo ship. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned, and they end up stealing the ship instead.
Killing Nazi's is like comfort food entertainment, and you really want to see March-Phillipps and his underdog crew of "ungentlemanly" misfits succeed. You also really want to see Marjorie Stewart (Eiza González) stick it to The Man, as she plays the most harrowing role in the mission. It's also fun to see a young Ian Fleming working as a Naval Intelligence officer during World War II, and there's speculation that his James Bond character was inspired by March-Phillipps. While Operation Postmaster was a success and director Guy Ritchie offers up feel-good celebrations of the real-life heroes at the end of the film, none of them except Marjorie Stewart lived to see the end of the war. It reminded me of another SOE agent, Violette Szabo ("Carve Her Name With Pride"), whose first mission was successful, but whose second mission resulted in capture, imprisonment, torture, and death.
The film looks great, is well-made, and is a lot of fun to watch, but it ultimately feels hollow. It's a simple good guys vs. bad guys war film where the charismatic good guys are hopelessly outnumbered, but still manage to come out on top. The action scenes are fun and well-executed, but not particularly memorable. What is memorable, however, is Eiza González. Wowzers... She is a living goddess among women and her presence is simply jaw-dropping. While I found her garish red lipstick to be regrettable, it was easy to overlook within the bigger picture. She is stunning throughout, and I just wish she'd seen more action. Chris Benstead's soundtrack is also quite rousing, and I anxiously await it to be released. Why don't they release soundtracks at the same time as the movie, when I'm actually thinking about it? I've been noticing this a lot recently, and even big movie soundtracks like "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning" (2023) have been delayed by several months. It's super annoying.
In addition to Ms. González, the rest of the cast is also quite enjoyable. The wild-eyed Henry Cavill is a treasure, to be sure, but it's the shockingly buff (and shockingly violent) Alan Ritchson who ends up stealing the show. And while society may have considered them "ungentlemanly," they sure seemed to go about everything in a very British and "gentlemanly" way. Overall, the film felt like a bunch of empty calories - a satisfying way to spend an afternoon, but not especially filling.