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_