‘Operation Fortune: The Great Hoax’: Guy Ritchie’s author’s blockbuster too hectic to move

At just 54 years old, Guy Ritchie has already earned the status of Woody Allen’s director with his annual appointment on the big screen to see the same successful formula reinvented. On this occasion, that invitation comes almost a year late (the original premiere was in March 2022 after filming in 2020). While not the norm and for the peace of mind of the British director’s fans, it wasn’t about reshoots or hiding a disaster: ‘Operation Fortune: The Great Hoax’ is everything its director wants it to be, with surprising carte blanche be a cinema similar to what Netflix gave to Michael Bay. Like ‘6 in the shade’, it fulfills all of its director’s keys in a big blockbuster that is very much auteur. both have the same level of spectacularity and simplicity in a script as hilarious as it is flat. Even so, it deserves to be seen on the biggest screen of all and in its original release from January 4th.

All stars shine differently and at the same time

The story departs from the traditional team recently formed by the country’s secret services with a wacky factor: in this case, a Hollywood actor who has to play himself. This franchise-like approach to ‘Fast & Furious’ and ‘Mission Impossible’ makes it easy for Ritchie to continue to demonstrate his great crowd management without falling into mere celebrity bouts to the “Ocean”. It’s true that not all characters are well balanced (Bugzy Malone is a mere sidekick of the team), but those in focus shine eccentrically without going overboard. The duo of Josh Hartnett and Hugh Grant deserve their own series as ‘The Gentlemen: Los señores de la mafia’ will have: both are full of complicity and humor as if they had been playing their role all their lives. But they are always directed by the very clear protagonist and the director’s fetish actor since his debut in 1998 with ‘Lock & Stock’. Jason Statham confirms himself and is not satisfied as an icon of current action cinema master both physical and sarcastic punches. And there’s a lot of both.

We already knew that Ritchie could do all of this, but his style is also renewed. That’s why she gives him all the space possible to show the best character of the entire film and one of the best (and few) female characters in his filmography. We warned that this was a formulaic fest, and Aubrey Plaza has to very elegantly keep the stereotype of the hooked sexy woman that denotes being written and directed by a man (those lip detail shots and sexual one-liners irritate moviegoers a lot). men, and receive none of this at any time). But ‘Operation Fortune: The Great Deception’ is also an interpretive festival for ‘The White Lotus’ actress. Plaza also shines as the girl in the chair in the backup, the tech geek and, on the other side with fewer minutes than needed, Statham’s friend. Also in it is another very powerful action film in which I hope Ritchie or any other director will give her the opportunity to star, as happened to Ana de Armas in “Ballerina” after testing her potential in the latest James Bond film ‘No Time to Die’.

Too good to excite

Aubrey Plaza is a nice sequel to Guy Ritchie’s evolving style. The underworld has given way to the luxuries of big organizations and the wealthy; in this case, Hollywood and the energy dealers. But the focus is still just as streetwise as it is in “Snatch”. Pigs and Diamonds’, although it is closer to the commercial tone of ‘Operation UNCLE’. The steering is a little flatter than we’re used to lately, reaching the opposite extreme of his criticized version of ‘King Arthur: The Legend of Excalibur’: which was an empty script but a visual bombshell, while ‘Operation Fortune’ boasts its director’s charm and pace in every scene made by a very flat manner with only a fleetingly polished editing. So, we could place it as an exhilarating minor work just above ‘Awake the fury’ but without reaching the excellence of ‘The Gentleman’.

Co-writing the script with his regular clients Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies, Ritchie focused the action on the script rather than directing. In this first section he really shines and goes wild in a continuous succession of scenes and sequences in an unstoppable escalation of increasingly frenetic situations. Easily, It could be one of his funniest films and undoubtedly one of the most open to the general public without whitening its essence. Although its promotional campaign is more limited because it does not have a large company behind it, the public should not be fooled: ‘Operation Fortune’ is the successful franchise that Netflix has not stopped trying to make in recent years (recently with ‘El invisible agent’).

Among so much rhythm delivered in entertainment, the big downside of the film is that it forgets to move people. It has many characters that shine in monologues, but even if they make us laugh, they don’t make us empathize with them. When the film ends, you discover that you know nothing about them. She has nothing to do with being spies, but rather with the fact that you never see them suffer, just “just” have fun. Watching the movie is as fun and superficial as playing a soccer match with that group of strangers who appear as they leave. The main problem with ‘Operation Fortune’ is that it is an action movie where there is no danger at any time. As if he were to apply the stipulation of Will Smith or Dwayne Johnson, Ritchie hasn’t risked gray to deify his fantastic protagonists. But even the gods must bleed in the cinema. For better or for worse, it’s all too easy and cute and flashy, without even a simple twist in the script. True, your heart won’t constrict at any point during the footage, but it won’t lower your heart rate either.

Note:7

The best: Every second is frenzy. Aubrey Square.

Worse: No conflict or emotion, just fun.