“Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre” Review
(From Left) Jason Statham as Orson Fortune leads a team of spies including a blackmailed actor (Josh Hartnett) and a genius hacker (Aubrey Plaza) to take back a mysterious weapon in “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre.”
Guy Ritchie is one of those filmmakers whose work I’m always interested in seeing in theaters. With great action comedies like “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” “Snatch,” his two “Sherlock Holmes” films and “The Gentlemen,” my favorite film of 2020, under his belt, he has a very distinct style of punchy dialogue, fun action and especially British characters. While “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre” doesn’t quite reach the heights of some of his previous work, the film uses Ritchie’s distinct style well enough to make for a fun experience at the cinema.
After a nasty weapon is stolen, a government contractor named Nathan Jasmine (Cary Elwes) hires a team of super spies. Led by the magnificent Orson Fortune (Jason Statham), this team needs to find out what was stolen, who stole it, who’s selling it to whom and, most importantly, how to get the weapon out of enemy hands before it does considerable damage. With an American hacker (Aubrey Plaza), a blackmailed movie star (Josh Hartnett), a rival spy (Peter Ferdinando) and a charming super-rich arms dealer (Hugh Grant) all tagging along for the ride, this will be unlike any other mission Fortune has taken on before.
If you’ve seen a Guy Ritchie action film before, you are well aware of his style and how well he wields it. It’s through Guy Ritchie’s unique style that this seemingly ordinary plot for a psy film is so entertaining. The bullets fly, words rhyme and every character has a nice retort to another character’s smart-ass comment.
While Jason Statham is probably more famous for his role as Deckard Shaw in the “Fast and Furious” series, he got his start with Guy Ritchie in “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and has worked with Ritchie on five films. It seems that under Ritchie’s direction, Statham has this liveliness that is strongest whenever the two of them are working together. Orson Fortune is one of those spies who knows he’s a badass and exercises that frequently. While he wants to do the right thing and see that this mystery McGuffin doesn’t become possessed by the wrong people, he also likes to bend the rules and steal some stuff on the side to make up for what he thinks is lackluster payment from the government.
Other people that Fortune works with like Nathan and communications specialist J.J. Davies (Bugzy Malone) are a lot of fun with their distinctly British sensibilities and their chemistry with the lead. I was especially pleased to see Bugzy Malone appear in this film after his breakout role in “The Gentlemen” as the track-suit wearing, kickboxing Ernie. While Malone is more sophisticated as J.J., he certainly knows how to bring the pain with his incredible sharpshooting skills.
But it’s Aubrey Plaza that really stands out as Sarah Fidel, an American hired to serve as Orson’s top hacker. She’s especially charming with her dialogue which I swear was written for a British person. However, when it comes out of Plaza’s American voice, it sounds like she’s mocking her colleagues, which makes for some humorous exchanges.
What is reassuring about the film is how obvious it is that the main object of interest, that all of these characters are chasing, doesn't matter as much as the people and the action. So, they just give it a cool sounding name, “The Handle,” and let these spies and mercenaries chase each other while firing guns. As usual for a Guy Ritchie film, the action is a lot of fun with unique camera angles and magnetic energy with every punch. You can be sure to expect car chases, people running after each other and all sorts of delightful espionage.
However, despite having the trademarks of some of Guy Ritchie’s best films, “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre” doesn’t have the same staying power as “Snatch” or “The Gentlemen.” Unlike those films, where every character had a bold personality and felt so lively, some of the players in this game feel underutilized. One such character is Mike who is said to be a big rival to Orson and his whole operation, but the actual relationship falls short of the build up.
While the idea of blackmailing a famous movie star named Danny Francesco to infiltrate an arms dealer’s home sounds like a lot of fun, it isn’t until late in the game that Danny proves his worth. For some parts of the film, he disappears altogether. However, the friendship that blooms between him and the arms dealer Greg Simmonds is incredibly infectious with Hugh Grant appearing to bring all of the energy he used in “The Gentlemen” into this character.
“Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre” might not be as strong as Guy Ritchie’s previous work but it still was an entertaining experience that gave me what I wanted: Jason Statham and company taking down bad guys with fun energy.
