Review: 'The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare' is a roisterous, but somewhat slow-moving, World War II spy action movie

It’s clear watching the rollicking World War II spy adventure “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” that director Guy Ritchie and his actors, led by Henry Cavill, were having a fun time. I just wish we, in the audience, were having as much fun.

It’s 1942, and the United States has just entered the war. Unfortunately for Britain, they have been delayed in helping out in the European theater because the Germans are roaming the North Atlantic with their U-boats, making shipments of armaments impossible. Britain’s top spymaster, Brigadier Gubbins (Cary Elwes), orders one of his junior officers, named Ian Fleming (Freddie Fox) — yes, the guy who later created the character James Bond — to come up with a plan to handle the U-boat problem. 

The answer comes in the form of an unconventional officer, Gus March-Phillips (played by Cavill), whom they find in an English prison. March-Phillips is recruited to an off-the-books mission — to sail down to an island off the coast of Equatorial Guinea and destroy an Italian supply ship that carries gear for the U-boat fleet. March-Phillips agrees, on the condition he can assemble his own team.

The team, of course, is as rough-and-tumble as he is: A Swedish assassin (Alan Ritchson), an explosives expert (Henry Golding), an Irish navigator (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) and a master planner (Alex Pettyfer) who they have to spring from a Nazi POW camp. They have two more accomplices on the island, British agents — one (Babs Olusanmokun) has a cover as a club owner who caters to the criminal element, and the other a very motivated weapons expert (Eiza González) whose main assignment is to seduce and distract the island’s top-ranking Nazi (Til Schweiger).

In the hands of Ritchie, this should be a fun wartime romp, in the vein of “The Dirty Dozen” by way of “Inglourious Basterds.” For some reason – maybe the “based on a true story” label, or the distaste for making comical villains out of Nazis — the action sequences feel labored and listless.

Cavill seems happy to be unshackled from the constraints of Superman, and leans into March-Phillips’ rugged bravado. The other outstanding player here is González, who exudes charm as the deceptively lethal secret agent. Even when the rest of “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” is shaky, González is stirring up a lot of trouble. 

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‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’

★★1/2

Opens Friday, April 19, in theaters everywhere. Rated R for strong violence throughout and some language. Running time: 120 minutes.