simonv-648-292176

I loved this movie, mainly I think as I watched this with my 12 yo son. It's a family entertainment adventure that delivers adventure, laughs, and some action. The trail of mystery canters along at a good pace and the humour is there to keep things light. The love interest part is subtle -ish but actually is the most delicately handled and best written part. The leading man is charming enough to carry it off and it feels like a good Sunday matinee adventure. With another director it would have had more cheese and a few more obvious hurrah moments but the direction elevated it. We need more of these from Ritchie...Indiana Jones and National Treasure rolled into one.

Went into this expecting a military movie like those that get rolled out on Netflix periodically, however this is a huge step above. The fact it's a true story too also adds so much to the events shown. The filmmakers go out to put you in the middle of the action. It's a very intense movie that does an amazing job of making you feel the tension in the situation. Performances keep you locked in but the real star of the show is the sound. From the gunfire to explosions you feel every hit. The 'Show of force' they use NEEDS to be heard to be believed. I came out of the movie shaken tbh but really entertained and the time flew by.

The trailers for this film focused on the humour which clashed with me, it fell way short and looked like a badly written slapstick. However it is far more substantial than that. It is a war movie filled with characters written with the actors in mind as a team mission adventure in the vein of Guns of Navarone and The Sea Wolves. To be honest I only wish that it had less of the female spy part and more of the fearless Dirty Dozen type adventurers. If the female spy part had been dropped I feel it would have hit harder. As it is I still feel it's a throw back jaunt that just fractionally falls short....