Director Guy Ritchie is back and this time he’s telling the amazing true story of an unlikely group that helped England win World War II. While the world’s first-ever special operations unit was serious business, though, the first trailer for The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a whole lot of fun. And not just because it features Henry Cavill rocking a glorious beard and mustache while sticking out his tongue all the time while gunning down Nazis.
But that’s definitely a big part of the fun.
This trailer looks exactly like the type of story we’d expect from Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes, The Gentlemen, Wrath of Man). Only this is England’s story. Here’s the official synopsis for The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare from Lionsgate, which explains the movie’s origins:
Based upon recently declassified files of the British War Department and inspired by true events, The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare is an action-comedy that tells the story of the first-ever special forces organization formed during WWII by UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and a small group of military officials including author Ian Fleming. The top-secret combat unit, composed of a motley crew of rogues and mavericks, goes on a daring mission against the Nazis using entirely unconventional and utterly “ungentlemanly” fighting techniques. Ultimately their audacious approach changed the course of the war and laid the foundation for the British SAS and modern Black Ops warfare.
It also helped seemed to help lay the foundation for Fleming’s creation of James Bond. So, you know, great job team! Winning wars and creating iconic spy characters!
The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare also stars Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Babs Olusamokun, Henrique Zaga, Til Schweiger. And it features Henry Golding and Cary Elwes.
Our best guess is the wordy title took its inspiration from Springfield, USA.
Kidding. We know its name comes from the book it’s based on. The film is an adaptation of Damien Lewis’ The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: How Churchill’s Secret Warriors Set Europe Ablaze and Gave Birth to Modern Black Ops. We were just getting in on the fun. Seeing Henry Cavill sticking his tongue out like a madman while shooting Nazis will put anyone in a good mood.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare releases in theaters on April 19.