Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre

International intrigue is the name of the game in the latest Action-Caper film from Guy Ritchie and he has delivered a winning mix of action and comedy with” Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre”. When a secret device known as “The Handle” is taken from a lab by a precision combat team, the U.K. government calls in Nathan (Cary Elwes), to gather a team and retrieve the item even though there is little known about what it is and what it can do. The simple fact that it was taken by force and is supposedly on the market for Ten Billion dollars makes this an item of high value. Nathan quickly recruits Orson (Jason Statham), away from his vacation and despite his quirks and laundry list of items required for his participation due to said quirks; he is soon brought into the group. The team is rounded out by young agent JJ (Bugzy Malone), and American computer expert Sarah (Aubrey Plaza), which irritates Orson to no end as he liked the tech he had become used to working with and the fact that they were hired away by a rival firm and Sarah’s give as good as she takes attitude causes him stress. It is learned that noted arms dealer Greg (Hugh Grant), appears to be brokering the deal and the crew travels from one part of the world to another with a rival team and all manner of dangers around them. In a race against time, the team brings actor Danny Francesco (Josh Hartnett), into the mix as he is a favorite of Greg’s and the hope is that this will provide the team an introduction and access by having Sarah pose as Danny’s new lady. What follows is a madcap and comedic adventure with loads of enjoyable characters and situations and enough action to keep things moving and enough laughs to keep audiences smiling. The cast is great and works very well with one another and it would be great to see them do further adventures with one another as their shared dysfunctions, attitudes, and quirks make them realistic and engaging and a nice change from the indestructible Teflon agents we are so used to seeing in films of this type. 4 stars out of 5

**_Operation Fortune's_ convoluted plot and terrible pacing result in a viewing experience that leaves a lot to be desired.** Operation Fortune was a terrible movie from start to finish. The plot was incredibly generic, filled with a bunch of cool spy jargon that made the agents sound really cool. The pace is way too fast, with jump cuts from scene to scene that attempt to be quick and seamless but just left me lost. I spent more time trying to figure out what was going on, where we were, and why we were here than I did enjoying the actual movie. The action was average at best, filled with cuts that tried to mask the poor choreography. When we were not spending time on lackluster action set pieces, it was used to deliver exposition dumps to help the audience attempt to understand what was going on. I have a hard time coming up with anything positive about my experience with the film. The performances left a lot to be desired. I think Jason Statham and Josh Hartnett did a decent job, but they did not blow me away. None of the main cast had any amount of chemistry, particularly Statham and Plaza. The latter quite disappointed me in this film. None of her comedic timing worked, and I found her performance to be rather flat. With how stacked the cast was, I am leaning toward believing that the script was so horrid that it was limiting the actors abilities to put on a good performance. Overall, I had a pretty terrible time watching this in theaters. I kept checking the time, waiting for the credits to finally roll. If you like Guy Ritchie, check this film out; otherwise, skip it because you will avoid wasting two hours of your life. **Score:** _26%_ **Verdict:** _Bad_

**Operation Fortune had all the appearances of a movie heavily altered on the cutting room floor… and not for the better.** I’m not quite sure what happened to this movie. It had hints and moments of something much more Guy Ritchie but instead was slower-paced and confused. I almost felt like an hour of screen time was cut from the film because many characters and plot points seemed incomplete. The entire movie was disjointed. The action was mediocre. The writing was so bad. There were so many great qualities this movie had going for it. The great cast and veteran director had me excited to see this film, but what I saw felt like the studio had pulled a Justice League on this movie, hacking and slashing it into something with shades of something else potentially entertaining but leaving a mess behind.