Audiences know Guy Ritchie can direct action, they know he can write quotable, pithy dialogue, and they know he can create memorable characters. However, for the most part, “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre” either fails to deliver or under-delivers on almost all fronts.
For a film directed, produced, and co-written by Ritchie, it feels more like the result of someone trying to emulate his work and falling short. However, there are moments when the premise’s promise shines through, making that inconsistency additionally frustrating. What makes that even more disappointing is that “Operation Fortune” reunites Ritchie with several previous collaborators, and yet, little of the magic they created returns with them. The film is the fifth outing for the filmmaker and Jason Statham and the second time for the director, Hugh Grant, and Josh Hartnett.
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The globetrotting caper has super spy Orson Fortune, played by Statham, being given the job of locating what turns out to be new weapons technology and stopping it from falling into the wrong hands. Grant plays billionaire faux philanthropist and career arms broker Greg Simmonds, the middleman in the nefarious deal. The UK government empowers Nathan Jasmine, played deliciously by Cary Elwes, to engage Fortune and a handpicked team of operatives, Aubrey Plaza‘s Sarah Fidel and Bugzy Malone‘s JJ Davies, to save the world. Their plan involves blackmailing adulterous movie star Danny Francesco, played by Josh Hartnett, to help them access Simmonds’ inner circle and stop the deal. There is, of course, a fly in the ointment, as they will have to contend with a rogue agent called Mike, who also wants to get his hands on the spoils.
On paper, especially in Guy Ritchie’s hands, all the ingredients for a thrilling and wildly entertaining globe-trotting action-comedy with an all-star cast seem to be in place, but it doesn’t quite come together.
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The alchemy that Ritchie, Statham, and Hartnett conjured up in 2021’s “Wrath of Man” is nonexistent here. Similarly, none of what made Grant so good in the director’s 2019 outing, “The Gentlemen,” has transferred across to “Operation Fortune” despite the slimy characters being cut from similar cloth. That in itself is frustrating. No one is actively bad, but Statham, Grant, Plaza, and Elwes’ slightly campy team leader are the only reasons that make the movie worth watching at all. They do the best with what they have, and that is just entertaining enough to keep the audience engaged, thanks to repeated glimmers of hope in the dialogue that Ritchie gold is around the corner. Sadly, the nuggets don’t add up to bullion, and it certainly isn’t as polished as it should be. Additionally, Hartnett’s Francesco feels a little all over the place, undercooked, and lacking substance or an edge. When you consider what Ritchie pulled out of the actor in the previously mentioned “Wrath of Man” and what Hartnett has delivered in other films, what is on display here is fun-ish but adequate at best. 
While no stranger to a misstep, Ritchie has proved time and time again that he knows action, knows character development, and can deliver on a range of budgets. From “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” to “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” he’s proven he can dish up highly entertaining balls-to-the-wall action and smart wisecracking scripts with aplomb. Here even the action sequences lack punch, energy, and realism, and this is perhaps most noticeable in the lackluster and frustratingly meandering third act. Even gunfights in fast cars, chases, cool stunts, and heavily-armed helicopters can’t put a pep in the step here.   
Combine that with the fact that some environments look unconvincingly soundstage-y, and it can feel so cheap that it yanks the viewer out of the moment. Switching between those scenes and real location shots can be jarring. Coupled with the occasionally thin and watery tone of some of the cinematography, and the whole thing feels lackluster, anemic, and flat. It rarely pulls the viewer in, even when you’re desperate to be absorbed and in the thick of it. 
While some of the supporting cast brings something to the table, step forward Max Beesley as Ben Harris, the henchman of Grant’s arms dealer, too many of them are poor quality. There also seems to be a noticeable difference in quality that it is really distracting, and in some instances, it is almost painfully hammy.
“Operation Fortune” feels perfunctory and a great idea that somehow fell apart somewhere along the line. The cast does its best with what they’ve got but only so much can be done. The mission might be complete, but it’s hard to call it a success, and there were undoubtedly casualties. [C]
“Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre” debuts in theaters on March 3.