Guy Ritchie’s Operation Fortune : Ruse de Guerre is a disappointingly ordinary Jason Statham action movie. Check out our review.
PLOT: A group of mercenaries (Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, Bugzy Malone and Cary Elwes) working for the British government try to recover a super weapon called The Handle. Believing that the device is now in the hands of a billionaire arms dealer (Hugh Grant), they use a famous movie star (Josh Hartnett) to infiltrate the man’s estate and recover the weapon.
REVIEW: Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is an action flick I’ve been looking forward to seeing for a while now. The movie was finished years ago but it remained on the shelf for more than a year due to a group of Ukranian bad guys. However, any mention of their nationality has since been removed from the film. It’s being released in the United States as a low-wattage film. However, it will soon be available for streaming in Canada and the UK. A bizarre fate for a big-budget action film directed by an A-list director and starring one of the world’s most popular action stars.
Despite a great cast, it’s a shame that Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre isn’t up to the usual Guy Ritchie standard. Although it’s Ritchie’s attempt to make a globe-trotting action movie, it’s not up to the usual Guy Ritchie standard. There is nothing new in Operation Fortune. The movie opens with Cary Elwes, Cary Elwes’ flawless fixer, negotiating with an English spymaster (Eddie Marsan), to bring in his usual crew. Statham’s Orson Fortune is portrayed as a head case. Marsan complains that he is claustrophobic and agoraphobic, and addicted to the high-life. This would have been a fun twist that would have given Statham something to chew on. However, he has no problem spending half of the movie in a private plane and ordering a beer at the bar. Statham is playing the same old Statham role – for better and worse.
One wishes Ritchie could have made Statham stretch a bit more, as Statham is becoming an uninteresting action hero. His movies are terrible because he never faces an opponent that could overshadow him or even challenge him in a fight. In this respect, he’s similar to Steven Seagal in the nineties. He is always seen as being extremely skilled and never in danger of losing fights. His on-screen fights are duller than they have been for many years.
What could have made Operation Chance more interesting was if the cast was recast with Statham playing Josh Hartnett and vice versa. Hartnett plays an action star who is blackmailed into helping the group to infiltrate the estate of a billionaire. Hartnett does a fine job in the role, but it is not convincing as an action hero. This oddly makes him an interesting, off-center choice for Orson Fortune. It’s not all bad though. Operation Fortune has a great supporting cast. The unconventional casting proves that the movie could have been better if other choices were made. Aubrey Plaza is a great “whizkid” technical professional who was brought in to assist the crew. She’s funny, and can fit in any role she’s given. Her talents are evident here. She can play Hartnett’s sarcastic technician, and then she can turn on a dime and pose as Hartnett’s gorgeous arm candy. She’s also able to show off her action skills, even though she is denied a major antagonist to fight. The film’s climax is a little too rushed.
Hugh grant is also great as the billionaire arms dealer. He adopts the same gangster accent as Ritchie’s The Gentlemen10 and has a great time playing the role of the quasi-villain. Cary Elwes plays a key role as Statham’s head of crew. He is a skilled actor with a few sharp one-liners.
In all, Operation fortune: Ruse de Guerre doesn’t end in disaster. However, it’s a decent action flick for Guy Ritchie. His last collaboration with Statham was
Wrath Of Man. It was truly innovative and fresh. In this one it feels like Statham is just doing the same old thing but in the process, is overshadowed by Plaza and Grant.5
