Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Breaks a Nearly Decade-Old Henry Cavill Trend

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• The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’s Gus March-Phillips, Explained

• The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Doesn’t Place Henry Cavill at the Forefront

• The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Breaks a Cavill Spy Trend

The following contains spoilers for The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, now playing in theaters.

As far as A-list Hollywood talent goes, Henry Cavill is as big as they get. Many fans adore what he did, even with Zack Snyder’s controversial approach as the DCEU’s Superman. He has also been in The Witcher, Enola Holmes and many other movies and shows. Along the way, Cavill has shown his range in terms of drama, action and comedy.

Now, director Guy Ritchie has Cavill as top billing in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, a retelling of a World War II black ops mission that was sanctioned by then British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. While many assume Cavill would indeed take up most of the screen time, per his other spy movie roles, he is cleverly placed in the background, without diminishing his impact.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’s Gus March-Phillips, Explained

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Gus March-Phillips was commissioned by Churchill in real-life to lead a secret team to steal an Italian boat and two tugboats off the coast of West Africa. It was a joint mission with the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF). This happened in the Spanish colony, Fernando Po, as Churchill wanted to reduce the fuel and other supplies these boats offered to Nazi U-Boats. Once the German naval fleet was weakened, the water canal would be opened up, allowing the USA to join the Allies.

They could then bring over resources and manpower to fight the Axis powers in the 1940s. Cavill portrays March-Phillips in the movie, but due to his lax attitude, none of his crew call him by the last name. He’s Gus to them — the cool, calm and collected leader who loves having fun on missions. It shows when he infiltrates a Nazi prison to rescue his friend, Appleyard. He pauses and listens to Nazi jokes, and laughs with them before shooting them dead with a chain gun.

He also playfully curses out his handlers — Cary Elwes’ M and Freddie Fox’s Ian Fleming — when they phone in and ask for the team to stop breaking certain rules. Historical accounts never confirmed if the real Gus was into levity like this. But as with many Ritchie properties like The Gentlemen, the director injects his own brand of humor to make his cinematic spectacles all the more palpable. Who better to add charm, charisma and flair than the rugged, dashing, handsome and buff Henry Cavill.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Doesn’t Place Henry Cavill at the Forefront

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The trailers did put Cavill at the forefront, which is a trend with many properties he is part of. Matthew Vaughn’s Argylle did the same, capitalizing on Cavill’s global star power and overall draw with audiences. It has grown exponentially with Cavill doing more Netflix work, so it makes sense for the marketing team at Lionsgate to capitalize on this. However, the movie subverts expectations by having Gus around in measured doses. His main moment in terms of speeches comes when he bargains with M over which members of his crew he needs at the start of the movie. But other than that, everyone else gets to shine.

This helps bring out the characters’ personalities so that audiences develop a bigger emotional attachments to them. Alan Ritchson’s Anders Lassen does most of the heavy lifting in terms of kills. He is often found with his sniper rifle, bow and arrow, grenade and even an ax, killing most of the enemies. Gus’ understudy, Henry, also gets a lot of time gunning down Nazis. While a vast portion of the film is spent by Heron (Babs Olusanmokun) and Marjorie (Eiza González) infiltrating a Nazi train and the base at Fernando Po — all to set up a party to distract the villains. The latter is particularly important, with Heron being new to the story.

As a Black man, it feels more fitting having him recruiting Black pirates to the cause, as opposed to reality where a white operative, Richard Lippett, was the one going undercover. It may bend history, but it doesn’t feel tone-deaf, especially in an era where post-colonial discussions on diverse representation take place. The same philosophy applies with Marjorie being played by a Mexican actor. Ritchie simply wants to show a well-rounded cast rather than just relying on Cavill. While leeway is taken, it does reiterate that the Allies weren’t just white people in the record books.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Breaks a Cavill Spy Trend

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This direction helps to avoid Cavill saturation. Throughout his career, he has been a spy many times. Ritchie already used him in 2015’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. as the heroic CIA agent, Napoleon Solo. Then, 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout used Cavill as a sinister CIA assassin, August Walker, who was tasked with backstabbing Ethan Hunt. Argylle then had Cavill as the titular spy, working against the Division to create world peace. That’s a lot of spycraft for one actor, and despite Cavill’s flawless depictions, they do tread a lot of common ground. Ritchie, however, uses him in spurts. Most of the planning and execution is done by his team, which paints them as a functional unit with different arms.

This approach balances who’s the brain, who’s the brawn, and makes Cavill’s Gus a mix of both: a man of the mind and of muscle. Additionally, the stakes are kept high and engaging for the rest of the team throughout the movie. This makes fans root for them more, while getting extra invested in the few scenes Gus appears in. It allows audiences to appreciate the Cavill sequences more. His background role is best summed up by Lassen’s hallway kill when the team decides to steal the boats, instead. Gus isn’t the genius who re-works the plan; Appleyard instead fulfills this role.

One would have expected Gus to get that hallway scene, maybe as a nod to the Marvel hallway scenes. Instead, Gus is on comms, listening to his friends operate in glorious, deadly fashion. Ultimately, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and while The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare may not be breaking box office records or setting seats on fire, it does break predictable trends. By using its ensemble cast to perfection, the movie avoids what has been overdone with heroes like James Bond, Jason Bourne and Ethan Hunt.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is now playing in theaters.

A poster for The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

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The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a World War II film following a top-secret combat unit who were formed by Winston Churchill to hunt down Nazis. The film is directed by Guy Ritchie and based on the book The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: How Churchills Secret Warriors Set Europe Ablaze and Gave Birth to Modern Black Ops by Damien Lewis.

DirectorGuy RitchieCastAlan Ritchson, Eiza Gonzalez, Henry Cavill, Cary ElwesMain GenreDramaGenresDrama, War