When a movie runs into all sorts of financial problems, gets delayed for over a year, goes international, streams live in Canada, and then finally gets the green light to open in the US through a new distributor and hits theaters with virtually no notification or Time to launch a marketing campaign, you must be thinking that something must be very wrong here.
Well, surprise, surprise. The awkward title Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is a lot of fun, an entertaining and true to genre spy thriller, very good cast and an eye catcher. The film was caught in the STX Mayhem, then handled by Miramax and a distribution deal to Lionsgate. It has played in much of the world, but will finally be released in the US in a theatrical release that is so rushed that it unfortunately does not have enough time to find an audience. If so, I bet word of mouth will be good as it tries to find customers between Marvel and DC tentpole films and sequels Creed III which will probably bury it this weekend.
A shame because in my opinion this is one of director Guy Ritchie’s best films, an international espionage film that doesn’t take itself seriously but delivers the action, tension and sincerity that the genre demands. Jason Statham also stars in a custom role as a super spy of sorts who sets out to recover a $10 billion black market device that will have catastrophic consequences for the world if it falls into the wrong hands. Further too has these fake hands in the shape of Hugh Grant are having a blast badas an international arms dealer whose operation Statham’s character, Orson Fortune, must infiltrate his hand-picked team of agents.
Fortune is recruited to find this device before it’s too late by Nathan Jasmine (Cary Elwes), a no-nonsense team leader with a plan he expects Fortune to follow. think again With his own team, including cyber whore and hacker Sarah Fidel (Aubrey Plaza) and keen sniper JJ Davies (Bugzy Malone), he sets out to bring in movie superstar Danny Francesco (Josh Hartnett) to star-studded, obsessive to help arms dealer Greg. Simmonds (Grant), who ironically organizes a huge event for his war orphan organization on his glamorous yacht near Cannes. With Fidel posing as his girlfriend and becoming the object of Simmond’s desires, the actor reluctantly takes on the role after essentially being blackmailed into doing so. Meanwhile, one of Fortune’s nemesis, Mike (Peter Ferdinando), also has designs for the world-changing device and is in the process of getting it himself. With all these players, we have the ultimate cat and mouse spy game before us.
Filmed largely in Turkey, which also serves as a number of international locations, Ritchie co-wrote a clever script with Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies that may not quite reach the level of his bleak earlier triumph. Castle, stock and two smoking barrels And shock (both starring Statham), but if you ask me, it’s miles better than some of his bigger-budget, flashier films, such as Uncle’s Man, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and even the successful but overrated Sherlock Holmes franchise from him. Despite an atypical exit as a Disney musical director Aladdin, Ritchie has more recently returned to his roots with some solid genre recordings like B anger of man (thus reuniting with Statham) and the brutal gangster film The gentlemen which he is now turning into a TV series for Netflix. Surgery luck also brought him back to where his greatest talents lie, mixing humor and action in an unmistakably Ritchie way.
The director has talent for casting and letting actors shine. Statham does what Statham does best here, an infinite screen presence to behold, and he’s a great match for Grant’s hilarious and slick arms dealer. Grant, like that dirty tabloid reporter Men, almost seems like another homage to Michael Caine here, but it’s another later career example (along with Paddington 2) of this great actor’s versatility. Plaza works against type in these types of pictures, but she does it effortlessly, as does Malone. Elwes is a pro, as is the stunned Nathan. Hartnett really goes to town, playing all the tropes of a selfish action star who finds himself in the role of his life. Real danger zone
Alan Stewart’s widescreen cinematography is lush and a salute to Chris Benstead’s score, which reflects John Barry at his Bond best but works perfectly for the brief.
Producers are Bill Block, Ritchie and Atkinson. Lionsgate opens it in wide release in the US on Friday.
Source: Deadline
Bernice Bonaparte is an author and entertainment journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a passion for pop culture and a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest entertainment news, Bernice has become a trusted source for information on the entertainment industry.
