JohnnyWeissmuller

Based on true events, although it's easy to see Guy Ritchie's influence from the likes of The Guns of Navarone, The Dirty Dozen, and even James Bond. Not to mention a familiar hint of Tarantino -- and not necessarily in ways that bring anything new or interesting to the table. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a film that wears its influences on a very thin sleeve. With attempts at pithy dialogue, patter, and comical exchanges on random topics landing flat amidst some awfully clichéd dialogue

The action is better than the dialogue, if not by much, as a group of military specialists, led by Henry Cavill, embark on a mission to disrupt Hitler's U-boat forces. Cavill is fine, but his cohorts are nondescript and lacking much in the way of personality and individuality, including Eliza Gonzalez in what is ostensibly a token female role, complete with a lifeless musical number.

Rory Kinnear is one of the worst on-screen Winston Churchills in recent memory, and whilst the film's score - drawn from spaghetti westerns - helps to keep the pace moving, this was quite a misfire for me.

Set in between Alien and Aliens, this is very much a nuts and bolts Alien film with some fresh new ideas, some fan service that I could have done without, brilliant production design, a fine score, and Cailee Spaeny doing impressive work in the film's central role.

I won't elaborate much on the plot for the sake of spoilers, other than the film involving a group of young men and women who see an opportunity to get away from a mining colony by looting an abandoned ship. Although their plan doesn't really stand up to scrutiny.

It's ominous almost from the beginning, and when the tension amped up, it rarely loosened, although said fan service was hackneyed and unnecessary to my mind. However, Alvarez clearly has an affection for Alien, and this is where his inspiration is largely drawn from, with the tone of the film being more akin to this film than Aliens.

Alvarez does lean into the second film in some respects, with action scenes that occasionally break the tension, and Alvarez doing in the film's third act what he seems to have a knack for in taking a swing for the fences with his movies.

It's a striking film to look it, and the young cast is good, especially Spaeny. Whose character proves early in the film that she is tenacious and has grit, but she also has intelligence. This isn't entirely true of her shipmates, although it's David Jonsson, who really stands out among the rest of the cast.

It is wanting for better dialogue and repartee, and whilst I could lament a lack of originality, especially when it not only draws from Alien, but also A Quiet Place and John Carpenter, it does exist comfortably and competently within a world established in the aforementioned films. It's familiar, functional, even basic at best. But that worked for me in spite of the shortcomings I'm alluding to.