Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre

This afternoon I spontaneously went to see "Operation Fortune" in the cinema. Here is my spoiler-free review:

This is once again a typical Guy Ritchie film. You just notice his signature, in a mostly positive sense.

The story is relatively simple, but in places it is told in an unnecessarily complicated way. I found that better in "The Gentlemen" and "Cash Truck". The former has a more complex story with some twists and turns and more suspense, but without being complicated. The latter, on the other hand, is kept very simple and is also told in a relatively straightforward manner. In "Operation Fortune", on the other hand, some dialogues are strung together very quickly, so that I sometimes couldn't keep up with the many names and changes of location. That was a bit too fast for me. I hardly had time to think and let my thoughts run free. I'm not quite sure, but in my memory two or three situations didn't make direct sense and it seemed illogical how the characters behaved in those situations. Emotions are also very rare here in the plot. In any case, I couldn't really sympathize.

This brings us to the characters: They all remain pretty pale and it's really only about the direct situational action. You don't really learn much more about any of the characters. They are quite stereotypical. Hugh Grant's character is the best, I think, because he plays his role very well and somehow he seems much more tangible and interesting than the others. In general, he steals the show when he's in the picture. Wonderful! Jason Statham plays his cool and tough agent character as usual. But that's all there is to it. It's also nice to see Josh Hartnett in a bigger movie again. His role is that of an actor and he is the one who always tries to be witty, but he is also the "coward" of the film. Then there is Aubrey Plaza as Sarah Fidel. She is the intelligent one of the agent troop and shows the men again and again that she can do more than they give her credit for. Finally, there is Bugzy Malone as JJ Davies. He is also an agent and he is the quiet type and sniper who acts more from ambush. But he also remains very pale. All in all, the characters don't develop much and everyone plays his role here and remains trapped in this corset from beginning to end without breaking out of it, which is kind of a pity because I couldn't build up an emotional connection to any of the characters.

The action scenes are solid, but often they are hardly shown, as if there had been a lack of budget. But the hand-to-hand fights with Jason Statham are fun as always, even if he's a bit too good for me, because he never really gets hit himself. He can have a few more weaknesses.

The CGI effects are good and if I'm not mistaken, many scenes were shot directly on real locations, which I liked.

The cinematography is solid, the cuts are also okay and didn't stand out to me either positively or negatively.

The humor in the film is well measured and mostly manifests itself in dry sarcasm and a few quips, which I liked.

The music didn't strike me as particularly positive or negative.

Overall, "Operation Fortune" is a solid, good-looking action-agent thriller that follows in the footsteps of Mission: Impossible, but can never reach its class. A viewing is worthwhile, however, and you will definitely get your money's worth, if you don't set your expectations too high. However, you shouldn't expect the class and style of "The Gentlemen". "Operation Fortune" will certainly not stay in my memory for a very long time. But since I was well entertained and could easily overlook the weaknesses, I award a solid

7/10 points - Low rewatch value.

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (2023)

This is how I imagine the pitch for this film went.

Producer: "Hey Guy, we got a bunch of money from some brands and countries and they want us to make a commercial.... I mean a movie."

Guy: "Can we travel around the world, drink non stop and pretend to care about the whole thing?"

Producer: "Say no more!"

I love Guy Ritchie's films and will watch anything this man makes but Operation Fortune didn't even feel like it was made by Guy Ritchie. Frankly speaking, as I watched the first half, I was getting an impression that many of the scenes were filmed on a phone and then were stapled into the film. Second half does change for the better but it can't shake the sensation left by the half baked scenes in terms of visuals, audio and production.

The story is about a mercenary team that is hired to get a briefcase with some stolen weapon. To be honest, the plot felt like listening to a drunk guy telling a story as some scenes got a lot of attention, some didn't make any logical sense and everything was flashy and colorful. The worst part of it all was that there were no trademarks which Guy Ritchie is know for, such as snappy dialogue, sharp humor and interesting storytelling. The actors were likeable and had some level of charisma but most of the time it felt like watching a few buddies having fun instead of a dedicated cast making a film.

The film that kept coming to my mind the entire time was Grown Ups 2 where Adam Sandler took his friends for a nice vacation and accidentally made a movie at the same time. I wouldn't say I was infuriated by any element of Operation Fortune but after enjoying The Gentlemen and Wrath of Man, I expected Guy Ritchie to put in more effort. Action was decent and second half was kind of exciting but that's about it. Whether you like his work or not, I would recommend avoiding this film as there is no logic, no humor and most importantly no Guy Ritchiness whatsoever.

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This would be a "straight to DVD" if not for Guy Ritchie. As a Ritchie-fan i was quite disappointed walking home from the theatre. I miss the dialogue Guy Ritchie is known for. The scence of black humor we know from other Guy Ritchie movies is also missing.

Hugh Grant saves the day with his performance, but we also see terrible acting from Josh Hartnett among others. Statham is Statham, nothing more, nothing less.

Don't spend your money watching this film in theatres. In a few weeks, it will probably be available on Netflix and as a tuesday evening timekiller it's probably worth watching. Be better next time Guy, we know that you could do better.

As a generic action flick I guess this is sort of ok. For the new Guy Ritchie film its super disappointing. The only stand out aspect is Hugh Grant who is excellent. The rest, from storyline, acting, action sequences, comedy are all incredibly mediocre. Statham does his most basic Statham when he can do much more given the script and direction. Aubrey is ok, i think she was supposed to be funny though and she isnt at all, that isnt her problem because she is generally awesome. The other guy, was just filler, im not sure what he was even there for. The main thing though is the story, its just nothing, it could be a Steven Seagal movie it has no twists turns or surprises.

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.