Movie · 2024 · Action, Comedy, War · 2h · R · English
Curator score: 2.8/10 (418.9K ratings)
Discover the first special forces mission in history.
Overview
During World War II, the British Army assigns a group of competent soldiers to carry out a mission against the Nazi forces behind enemy lines... A true story about a secret British WWII organization — the Special Operations Executive. Founded by Winston Churchill, their irregular warfare against the Germans helped to change the course of the war, and gave birth to modern black operations.
Ratings
Curator score: 2.8/10
IMDb: 6.8/10
Letterboxd: 3.19/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 68%
Metacritic: 55
TMDB: 7.0/10
Director
Guy Ritchie
Production
Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Black Bear Pictures, Toff Guy Films
Cast
Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding, Cary Elwes, Alex Pettyfer, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Babs Olusanmokun, Til Schweiger, Freddie Fox, Rory Kinnear, Danny Sapani, Henrique Zaga, James Wilby, Matthew Hawksley, Simon Paisley Day, Mark Oosterveen, Victor Oshin, Alessandro Babalola, Orshuff Emmanuel Mele
Where to watch
Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus
Curator Review
Verdict
A slick, star-powered WWII caper with Guy Ritchie’s usual swagger, but the tone is lighter and the action less sharp than the premise promises. It’s entertaining in bursts, especially if you’re here for charismatic leads, pulpy sabotage missions, and Nazi-punching spectacle, but it can feel thin and uneven.
Best for
Viewers who like breezy wartime adventure with banter and style
Fans of ensemble action movies built around charismatic casts
People looking for a glossy, low-stakes alternative to grim WWII drama
Skip if
You want historical war films with real tension and emotional weight
You’re allergic to quippy, self-aware action-comedy
You need tightly staged action and consistent visual polish
Overview
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare plays like a recruitment poster for handsome troublemakers. Guy Ritchie leans into swagger, banter, and comic-book momentum, sending a team of elite operatives behind enemy lines for a mission that feels equal parts sabotage thriller and boys’-own adventure. The cast clearly understands the assignment, and the movie’s best stretches are powered by that easy, muscular charisma.
Worth noting
What it doesn’t quite deliver is the snap and danger the setup suggests. The action is often more amusing than suspenseful, and the film can feel like it’s coasting on attitude when it should be escalating. The wartime stakes are real enough in concept, but the execution keeps undercutting its own tension.
Bottom line
Still, if you want a glossy, crowd-pleasing WWII romp rather than a sober combat drama, it goes down easily. It’s not one of Ritchie’s sharpest films, but it’s a solid hangout movie with explosions, sabotage, and a knowingly ridiculous sense of fun.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Kevin Tarazi. (3.5★) · 4322 likes
It has to be studied how hot the cast of this movie is.
Bryan Espitia (3.5★) · 3180 likes
There’s literally a “some kind of…ministry of ungentlemanly warfare” title drop in this lmao
kyle (2★) · 2380 likes
one of the worst winston churchill performances ever put to screen. at least everyone else was distractingly hot
Joe A (2.5★) · 2315 likes
Would have been cool if Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was just 2 hours of Alan Ritchson with a bow & arrow instead of a poorly lit, inconsistent, and tension-less action movie.
Oh well. Someone tell Guy Ritchie he doesn’t need to pump out moderately entertaining action movies every year, he can take his time.