Henry Cavill’s latest movie,The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,has defied its box office performance and critics' reviews to top the chart of the actor’s personal list of Rotten Tomatoes audience scores. Directed by Guy Ritchie, the WWII-based action-blockbuster pairs Cavill with an all-star cast, including Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, Henry Golding,Babs Olusanmokun, Eiza González, and Cary Elwes.
Despite holding a critic’s score of 73%,The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfarecurrently boasts an audience score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes (with over 250 verified reviews). The movie is currently tied withZack Snyder’s Justice League, as Cavill’s most popular film with audiences. These audience reviews range from praising the “hilarious action with a great cast,”, to labeling the film as, “OUTSTANDING! Must see!”
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a World War II film following a top-secret combat unit who were formed by Winston Churchill to hunt down Nazis. The film is directed by Guy Ritchie and based on the book The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: How Churchill’s Secret Warriors Set Europe Ablaze and Gave Birth to Modern Black Ops by Damien Lewis.
However,The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfarehasn’t landed with critics in such a positive light.Vulture’s Alison Willmore says the film is, “Never sharp enough to approach satire but also too over the top to be taken at face value.“MovieWeb’s own reviewgave Guy Ritchie’s latest 2 stars out of 5, critiquing the movie’s “half-baked script and rushed editing”, and ultimately concluding “the performances of everyone involved carry this lackluster script to the finish line.”
Henry Cavill Would Make the Perfect James Bond, Says His Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Co-star
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare star Eiza González thinks, “It’s hard not to look at Henry Cavill and think of James Bond.”
Despite being the actor’s (joint) best movie according to audiences,The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfareis only his 6th highest-rated using critics' scores. The movie sits behind movies likeStardust,I Capture the Castle,Enola Holmesand its sequel, andMission: Impossible - Fallout(which is the actor’s highest rated film at 97%). It should be noted that the majority of audience reviews are from US audiences, asThe Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfarehasn’t released internationally yet.
Why Audiences & Critics Are Divided
The divide between critics and audiences has grown exponentially in the age of the internet. While the disparity between critics' and audiences' reviews forThe Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfareisn’t massive, there is a clear logic to the difference in reception. Most critics, even those who gave the movie 3 stars or more, feel the film is hampered by its script and lack of character depth. Glenn Kenny, writing forRogerEbert.com, said “despite its four credited screenwriters, there’s not much verbal crackle at play.”
Meanwhile, audiences can overlook the film’s narrative flaws and completely lose themselves in Ritchie’s grandiose action sequences. With Cavill and Alan Ritchson in the leading roles, the pair’s fans are out in force to heap praise on the film’s stylistic and explosive action scenes. The film was billed as a muscular group of quipping action stars killing Nazis and changing the course of World War II, and on that promise, audiences feel the film delivers.
The True Story Behind The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Explained
Did the events of Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare actually take place during World War II?
It appears that the major divide comes from expectations. Many critics expected more from Guy Ritchie, believing the film had the potential to rival the iconicBritish director’s best work -SnatchandLock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. Whereas audiences have embracedThe Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfarefor what it is; 2+ hours of muscular action stars decimating Nazis.
