Guy Ritchie’s Plucky WWII Men on a Mission Caper ’THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE’ Revels in Nazi Slaughter

April 17, 2024 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Arash Amel, Babs Olusanmokun, Cary Elwes, Eiza González, Eric Johnson, Freddie Fox, Guy Ritchie, Henry Cavill, Henry Golding, Paul Tamasy, Rory Kinnear, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Til Schweigher Leave a comment

Gus March-Phillips is putting together a team. His collection of ex-military undesirables are a rag-tag team of muscle-bound rapscallions, culled from the ranks of the British and other E.U. Armed Forces Units for their insubordination, trigger-happy nature, and general rancor. Their mission: to carry out a top-secret plot to disrupt the Nazi U-boat supply chain, thereby freeing the Atlantic from their reign of underwater terror and allowing for reinforcements from their eager American allies. The execution of said mission is workmanlike and slapdash, both as carried out by the involved parties and by director Guy Ritchie. Read More

Army Commercial ‘GUY RITCHIE’S THE COVENANT’ Fails to Explore Anything of Value

April 18, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Dar Salim, Guy Ritchie, Jake Gyllenhaal, Out in Theaters, Reviews, The Covenant 2 Comments

Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant, stylized as written, with the director’s name in the title, for reasons unknown, is the kind of movie that feels the needs to define what “covenant” means for its audience. This takes place not in the opening moments, but as a punctuation mark to the whole affair. As if the intended audiences is so unfamiliar with the dictionary that they don’t even understand the definition of a seventh-grade vocab word. And yet would still show up to see a movie called The Covenant. I’m sorry, Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant.* This fact becomes even more bewildering the more we dig into what this alleged “action-thriller” is actually about and what its apparent intention is. Read More

‘WRATH OF MAN’ A Vengeful Layer Cake of Crime

May 6, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alan Stewart, Andy Garcia, Christopher Benstead, Guy Ritchie, Holt McCallany, Jason Statham, Josh Harnett, Marn Davies, Scott Eastwood, Wrath of Man 1 Comment

With a dozen films under his belt, British filmmaker Guy Ritchie has dedicated his career to the criminal ensemble. From his roots directing blue-collar Cockney capers (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch) to his more mainstream tentpole films (The Man for U.N.C.L.E., King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and – to a degree – even Aladdin), Ritchies film involve crews of small-time thieves stylishly trying to land the big score. In what is both a natural evolution of his thread of storytelling and perhaps even a maturation of his themes, Wrath of Man wonders what happens after the heist has been committed. Read More

‘THE GENTLEMEN’ Review

January 24, 2020 by Pedro Schwarzenegger Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Guy Ritchie, Matthew McConaughey, Out in Theaters, Reviews, The Gentlemen Leave a comment

THE PLOT: Bear with me while I untangle the plot into a more manageable narrative. A California kid (McConaughey) with a penchant for dealing weed and a nasty temper rises through the UK underworld to become the greatest dope peddler the British Isles have ever given immigration status to. But when he goes to sell his, rather substantial, operation to a diffident American billionaire (Strong) other parties want in. Namely a brigade of bloodthirsty Chinese nationals who won’t take no for an answer. Read More

Disney’s Lifeless ’ALADDIN’ Remake is the Opposite of Art

May 22, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Aladdin, Alan Stewart, Disney, Guy Ritchie, John August, Marwan Kenzari, Mena Massoud, Michael Wilkinson, Naomi Scott, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Will Smith 2 Comments

As far as I’m concerned, Aladdin is the worst movie of the year. There is not one ounce of artistic value in this soiled remake ostensibly from director Guy Ritchie (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.), not one element that was not a clunky and borderline offensive down step from the original 1992 animated film, no attempt to refurbish the material and put any semblance of fresh spin on it. This is “filmmaking” as black magic – the result of someone burying the original Aladdin V/H/S in a Pet Sematary, its shambling resurrected corpse showing up on marquees pretending to be a real movie. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD’

May 9, 2017 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Aidan Gillen, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, Guy Ritchie, James Herbert, Joby Harold, Jude Law, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lionel Wigram, Michael McElhatton, Neil Maskell, Out in Theaters, Reviews 1 Comment

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword starts with elephants the size of castles and ends with snakes the size of rivers and there isn’t much sandwiched in between that’s any less ridiculous. A monochromatic mess replete with sketchy, video game-esque CGI and an often out of focus, mangled 3D conversion, Guy Ritchie’s bonkers fantasy film ditches the legend of the sword in the stone of yore for something that feels equally indebted to Heavy Metal and Shadow of Mordor cut scenes. Read More

Out in Theaters: THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.

August 12, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alicia Vikander, Armie Hammer, Elizabeth Debicki, Guy Ritchie, Henry Cavill, Hugh Grant, Out in Theaters, Reviews, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Leave a comment

Guy Ritchie is the Rembrandt of slick action capers. His signature twisty-turny plotting suggests a much more reined-in Shyamalan while his carefully syncopated, pop-art action beats share a locker with contemporaries Zack Snyder and Matthew Vaughn. From Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels to Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Ritchie has operated within a comparable sandbox, utilizing a very similar set of stock tools within shifting budgetary constraints. With The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Ritchie has set aside his signature accoutrements for something with an embarrassment of cinematic fervor. His latest creation is chic and classic, timely yet timeless, shiny on the surface with rich characters driving the engine underneath. This much fun is rare at the theaters. Read More