Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is the latest film from Guy Ritchie, who also shares screenplay credit with his recently frequent collaborators, Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies. To put it plainly, Operation Fortune is Ritchie’s take on the globe-trotting spy film, though less old school like The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and more in the vein of something like Mission: Impossible. The story is admittedly kinda rote, a mysterious device known as “The Handle” is stolen, and the British government hired Nathan Jasmine (Cary Elwes) to get a crew together that can find out who took the Handle, why they took the Handle, and what the Handle even is.
The crew consists of team leader, Orson Fortune (Jason Statham), a reliable but occasionally off-the-wall spy, tech genius Sarah Fidel (Aubrey Plaza), weapons expert and sharpshooter J.J. Davies (Bugzy Malone). However, for their master plan, they end up recruiting (more like blackmail into helping, really) Danny Francesco, a big shot but kinda hackneyed Hollywood movie star, who happens to be the favorite actor of the eccentric billionaire arms dealer, Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant), who plans on selling the Handle to the highest bidder. Needless to say, Greg must be stopped at all costs.
It’s about as basic, and also as convoluted, as your average spy flick, but the charms of this particular genre isn’t so much in the mechanics of the overarching narrative. It’s in the details, the moment to moment beats, the character moments, and of course, the action. Guy Ritchie is the kind of filmmaker who excels in these particular filmmaking elements, playing with tropes, archetypes with witty banter and frantic, stylish camerawork and editing has defined his sensibilities since the very beginning, and I am happy to say it is no different when it comes to this new film, especially after a striking (but nonetheless effective stylistic departure with the incredible Wrath Of Man).
The characters here are a lot of fun. Many of them have history with Ritchie, so they’re able to work with his particular brand of funky and snarky dialogue. But it’s also worth nothing that Aubrey Plaza and Cary Elwes both manage to fit in very naturally. Plaza’s dry delivery is as sharp as always, and Elwes brings a quick-witted sensibility that makes me wonder how he and Ritchie never crossed paths until this. While this is treated more or less as a Statham vehicle, he doesn’t shine at the expense of his co-stars. Hartnett practically steals the show as the actor who is in way over his head being involved in such a dangerous mission, and Grant is a delight in a performance about as over-the-top as his role in The Gentlemen.
However, as much as I would like to say this is a terrific little action film, I can’t necessarily go that far. This is a film that has been pulled from released and quietly held back for well over a year now, due to the bad timing of putting out a movie featuring Ukrainian villains. There was a part of me hoping for something more. The film is very lighthearted, but it is also just very light period. There isn’t much there there. It feels more empty calories than usual for Ritchie, not to say that his previous films were intellectual puzzle boxes or anything, but this one as of this moment isn’t one that I feel will stick around with me.
If that’s the biggest complaint I can come up with for a film then I think Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre will be just fine. Taking away any expectations I may have built up in my mind as I was anticipating the film, it’s a very straightforward and mostly undemanding piece of action filmmaking, but done with enough style and personality and charm to make for a breezy and fun watch. I had a really good time with the film, and from the looks of it, so did everyone involved. Similar to The Gentlemen, it does feel like Guy Ritchie is getting just a little too comfortable with some of his gimmicks, which is why Wrath Of Man felt like such a revelation, but given the genre shift from labyrinthine urban crime to international spy romp, it’s engaging to watch him explore this space and with these characters. And hell, if this one didn’t work for you, Guy Ritchie has another film coming out in a couple months that looks wildly different.
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre will open in theaters on Friday, March 3rd.