Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre Is a Limp Spy Caper As Nondescript as Its Title: Review
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The post Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre Is a Limp Spy Caper As Nondescript as Its Title: Review appeared first on Consequence.
The Pitch: It’s the same old spy-game story: A group of mysterious mercenaries (Ukrainian here, though the film mutes most explicit mentions of their nationality; the film was delayed from a 2021 release once Russia invaded Ukraine, making the baddie’s nationality an exercise in bad taste) steals a briefcase from Odessa with a mysterious world-ending something in it.
Whatever it is, the powers that be want it and are willing to pay spy-for-hire Orson Fortune (Jason Statham, as scowly as ever) to retrieve it. With the help of his effete supervisor Nathan Jasmine (Cary Elwes), fixer J.J. Davies (Bugzy Malone), and tech expert Sarah Fidel (Aubrey Plaza), they figure out that the sale of this particular MacGuffin is being facilitated by foppish billionaire Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant, doing his best Michael Caine).
The best way to get into Simmonds’ inner circle and disrupt the sale? Why, recruit his favorite movie star, Danny Francesco (Josh Hartnett), to distract the celebrity-obsessed mogul. Together, they may pull it off… if they can fend off the machinations of rival contractors and the many goons aching for a taste of Statham’s fist.
The Unbearable Weight of Wasted Talent: It used to be that Guy Ritchie was one of Great Britain’s signature connoisseurs of style. If he wasn’t constantly auditioning for a Bond picture, he at least felt comfortable with style parodies that catered to his bold idiosyncracies (The Man From U.N.C.L.E., the Sherlock Holmeses).
But the awkwardly-titled Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre is one of Ritchie’s most listless gestures toward that end, an action-comedy seemingly disinterested in both descriptors. Instead, there are vague gestures to the Bondian derring-do this kind of movie requires, from tuxedo-clad undercover gigs on yachts to car chases around winding cliffside roads, to firing rockets from a helicopter.
But it’s staged with a lifelessness it’s hard to believe Ritchie is capable of — save for a few cheeky cuts or the odd split-screen here and there, it’s got about as much visual style as The 355 or any other straight-to-VOD clunker.
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (Lionsgate)
That drabness comes through on screen, too. Statham’s never been the most… expressive actor, shall we say, but Orson Fortune feels like an even more thinly-drawn version of his action persona than his (great) character in Paul Feig’s Spy. We hear about Fortune’s many quirks — he’s neurotic, a loose cannon — but the only one we actually see is a taste for fine wine he insists goes on the company dime for “mental health” purposes. Hardy har.
The same goes for Plaza, the kind of actress you’d normally salivate to see in a Guy Ritchie movie: Here, she’s stripped of her uniqueness, now the bog-standard Girl of the Group who flits between wisecracking hacker and slinky seductress depending on the scene. She feels like she’s supposed to be the audience surrogate, constantly looking askance at the otherwise straightforward team around her. But she melds frustratingly into the rest of the cast, with far too few moments to stand out.
But it’s especially galling for Hartnett’s character, especially considering his hook, a movie star getting roped into an international spy game, is robust enough to support a whole feature. (Shades of Team America: World Police abound.) Instead, he’s vestigial, only popping up occasionally when the film remembers he’s not used to all this kiss kiss bang bang. It’s really only Grant who understands the assignment, purring every goofy line with stentorian relish in keeping with his late-career pivot to camp baddie (he’s no Phoenix Buchanan, mind).
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (Lionsgate)
That’s It? Just… Mike? Maybe this case of could-be-colorful characters would have shined more if Operation Fortune‘s script weren’t so, well, nondescript. Ritchie wants to upend the typical formulas of the spy picture by keeping the nature of their target so ambiguous. That could work if the film ushered us through the nonsense with plenty of wit and spirit, as even the worst Bonds do.
But nobody’s cracks are wise enough to charm, and the action scenes feel like a rehearsal run of Statham’s greatest hits. Nothing keeps you interested, and that’s before the reveals further highlight just how little there is under the hood. (Spoiler: if you’re going to do a surprise twist villain, make it a character you’ve spent any time at all developing.)
The Verdict: Operation Fortune is a spy “comedy” insofar as it generally shrugs in the direction of parody: its characters presume the air of cheeky sendup without actually committing to it, whether it’s Statham’s grumpy skull-cracker or Plaza’s confused deadpan. Apart from some fun sartorial experimentation and a fun shot here or there, there’s little of Ritchie’s signature brio to uplift the dull-as-dishwater spy tropes on display.
Instead, it’s like watching a cheap Kingsman knockoff; only it comes from the filmmaker arguably most influential to the things that made those movies fun. Ritchie wants to send up the spy movie, and he doesn’t let the fact that he has nothing to say about the spy movie stop him.
Where to Watch: Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre cracks wise and cracks skulls in theaters starting March 3rd.
Trailer:
Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre Is a Limp Spy Caper As Nondescript as Its Title: Review
Clint Worthington
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