Opération Fortune : Ruse de guerre

As a generic action flick I guess this is sort of ok. For the new Guy Ritchie film its super disappointing. The only stand out aspect is Hugh Grant who is excellent. The rest, from storyline, acting, action sequences, comedy are all incredibly mediocre. Statham does his most basic Statham when he can do much more given the script and direction. Aubrey is ok, i think she was supposed to be funny though and she isnt at all, that isnt her problem because she is generally awesome. The other guy, was just filler, im not sure what he was even there for. The main thing though is the story, its just nothing, it could be a Steven Seagal movie it has no twists turns or surprises.

Highly disappointed with this movie. I don't know if I had too high of an expectation but the movie was a huge let down.

Acting was mediocre(except for Mr Grant), action was meaningless and dumb most of the time, comedic relief was slow and far between.

The story itself is really what drags this movie down tho, the premise is bad, unimaginative and full of plotholes. The scenario seems rushed, the dialog is abysmal and one liners are abundant and unfunny.

Filmography is ok-ish, there are a couple of good scenes, but most is outlandish but not in a good way.

All in all, this movie(franchise if they get away with it) is sadly just a huge cash grab with no real essence.

If it wasn't a Guy Ritchie nobody would even know it exists.

Somebody stole something to sell to someone. A team is put together to find out all of the above and retrieve whatever this is. This was exactly what you'd expect from a Jason Statham film with humor in it.

Looks like Guy Ritchie wants to take this in a franchise direction and based on this first film, I don't know if it's worth the effort. Action - decent. Statham does what he usually does in a film like this. Humor - there's a decent amount of it, exactly what you'd expect from Aubrey Plaza and from Guy Ritchie dialogues. Hugh Grant was good!

If you're a Statham fan, and go into into this film expecting the Transporter, you'll be let down. If you enjoyed watching stuff like The Red Notice or The Gray Man but wished things weren't as over-the-top as they were in these two films, you'll enjoy this one. There's nothing GREAT about this film but it's a decent one-time watch if you have nothing else to watch.

While this isn't even a patch on Guy Ritchie's first couple of movies with Jason Statham, or his first movie with Hugh Grant, it's a pretty damn solid bit of fun with touches of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and at least one ever-so-slight nod to The Princess Bride.

The main cast are excellent - especially Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, Josh Hartnett (who it's great to see finally getting some consistent work the last few years), and Hugh Grant - and the henchmen are nice and henchy, giving Statham ample opportunity to flex his fighting muscles AND his banter muscles. The bad guys are kinda meh, though, and could have been at least a little less forgettable. Maybe.

Still, it's a great way to pass the time with a bowl of popcorn and a bag of Malteasers. You could easily do a lot worse.

See you next Tuesday.

'Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre' is the 5th time director Guy Ritchie has used Jason Statham in one of his films - and if it ain't broke, don't fix it! This is a pretty straight-forward spy-action-adventure, with a fair bit of comedy thrown in - closer to 'The Man From U. N. C. L. E.' than 'Wrath of Man'. I'd say I liked it better than 'The Gentlemen', but not as much as 'Snatch'. There is only minor introductions for Orson Fortune (Statham), Sarah (Plaza) and JJ (Malone) as the spy team working for Nathan (Elwes), before we're off and running.

Not sure why the "Ruse de Guerre" suffix was needed, but it translates as a cunning war trick. I assume it also helps if there are to be sequels. The trick is that the team use actor Danny Francesco (Hartnett) as bait for billionaire arms-dealer Greg Simmonds (Grant), to track a stolen weapon. Most of the plot is quite formulaic, but Statham & Ritchie know how to stage action scenes and there's plenty of exciting moments.

Hartnett plays spoiled actor well; Plaza has plenty of fun; Malone, Elwes and Statham are all solid; with Hugh Grant relishing the role, having even more fun than he did in 'The Gentlemen'. Not too long, satisfying ending, noting too new, but a nice mix of comedy and action with a good cast.