Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre

While this isn't even a patch on Guy Ritchie's first couple of movies with Jason Statham, or his first movie with Hugh Grant, it's a pretty damn solid bit of fun with touches of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and at least one ever-so-slight nod to The Princess Bride.

The main cast are excellent - especially Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, Josh Hartnett (who it's great to see finally getting some consistent work the last few years), and Hugh Grant - and the henchmen are nice and henchy, giving Statham ample opportunity to flex his fighting muscles AND his banter muscles. The bad guys are kinda meh, though, and could have been at least a little less forgettable. Maybe.

Still, it's a great way to pass the time with a bowl of popcorn and a bag of Malteasers. You could easily do a lot worse.

See you next Tuesday.

Highly disappointed with this movie. I don't know if I had too high of an expectation but the movie was a huge let down.

Acting was mediocre(except for Mr Grant), action was meaningless and dumb most of the time, comedic relief was slow and far between.

The story itself is really what drags this movie down tho, the premise is bad, unimaginative and full of plotholes. The scenario seems rushed, the dialog is abysmal and one liners are abundant and unfunny.

Filmography is ok-ish, there are a couple of good scenes, but most is outlandish but not in a good way.

All in all, this movie(franchise if they get away with it) is sadly just a huge cash grab with no real essence.

If it wasn't a Guy Ritchie nobody would even know it exists.

'Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre' is the 5th time director Guy Ritchie has used Jason Statham in one of his films - and if it ain't broke, don't fix it! This is a pretty straight-forward spy-action-adventure, with a fair bit of comedy thrown in - closer to 'The Man From U. N. C. L. E.' than 'Wrath of Man'. I'd say I liked it better than 'The Gentlemen', but not as much as 'Snatch'. There is only minor introductions for Orson Fortune (Statham), Sarah (Plaza) and JJ (Malone) as the spy team working for Nathan (Elwes), before we're off and running.

Not sure why the "Ruse de Guerre" suffix was needed, but it translates as a cunning war trick. I assume it also helps if there are to be sequels. The trick is that the team use actor Danny Francesco (Hartnett) as bait for billionaire arms-dealer Greg Simmonds (Grant), to track a stolen weapon. Most of the plot is quite formulaic, but Statham & Ritchie know how to stage action scenes and there's plenty of exciting moments.

Hartnett plays spoiled actor well; Plaza has plenty of fun; Malone, Elwes and Statham are all solid; with Hugh Grant relishing the role, having even more fun than he did in 'The Gentlemen'. Not too long, satisfying ending, noting too new, but a nice mix of comedy and action with a good cast.

The good: Hugh Grant is brilliant in his role as a powerful mastermind criminal. But that's not enough...

The bad: this spy flick is lacking in real thrill. And it definitely intended to be a real thrilling spy flick. One down.

More bad: the jokes arent really funny. Missing the mark almost every time. That's two down.

Even more bad: the supporting actors are bland. All of them. That's three down.

Beware all you Jason Statham fans, this movie surely aint a terrible spy action flick, but it is definitely not Jason Statham's best either, because I have seen all his moves before, done better. And although the quirky and wonderful actress Aubrey Plaza is co starring I must admit that even her role is not her best either.

So what we have here is a below average spy flick, that just wont get really exciting.

Still worth a watch, but dont expect any originality or real thrill. It'll do as a mindless throwaway spy flick.

As an avid fan of Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham I was very much looking forward to another collaboration from them, but Operation Fortune unfortunately is leagues away from the likes of Wrath of Man, Lock Stock etc. In fact it's almost like this film was directed by someone other than Mr Ritchie as there is little to no style compared to his previous works and the plot is just far too similar to other typical spy-action films.

There also seemed to be a lack of typical Statham ass-kicking compared to his other martial arts films and there are certainly no big Mission Impossible level stunts to add to the action.

The cast and script is still decent to keep you engaged but I certainly expected a lot more - still an ok film if you're looking for a popcorn flick to switch your brain off for 2 hours, I would say 6.5/10 overall.