Henry Cavill's new action film convinces critics, but things are looking bad for a theatrical release in Germany

Guy Ritchie's The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare opens in cinemas on April 19, 2024 – but not in Germany! It is currently not known whether and when the new action film with Henry Cavill in the leading role will be shown on the big screen in this country.

It's even very possible that we won't be allowed to see The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare in the cinema in Germany, but rather only later on a streaming service – specifically Amazon Prime Video.

And that despite the fact that the latest film from director Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Rock'n'Rolla, The Gentleman) has been pretty decent so far Rotten Tomatoes (77 percent in 26 reviews). At Metacritic Things don't look quite so rosy at 55 percent, but there are currently only eleven reviews where the mediocre or negative ratings predominate. A more meaningful average score should settle in here over the course of the week.

Why things are looking bad for a cinema release in Germany

Why not a cinema release in Germany? A report from Yahoo According to the film studio Lions Gate, it was only committed to a US release of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Meanwhile, Prime Video has taken over the international distribution rights – including in Europe – for an eight-figure sum.

According to Yahoo, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is explicitly not being released in cinemas in Great Britain and Canada instead in the Amazon Prime Video streaming program. It is currently not known when this will happen.

It is currently not known whether this also applies to the release of The Ungentlemanly Warfare in Germany – but it would be pretty obvious. Anyone looking forward to the new action film with Henry Cavill will probably have to be content with a home cinema visit.

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The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: Henry Cavill goes on a Nazi hunt in the World War II action film

What do critics think of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare?

The story: The new film centers on a British special forces unit that focused on sabotage and espionage missions behind enemy lines during World War II. The Special Operations Executive (SOE), of which even author Ian Fleming was a part, is considered one of the main inspirations for the character James Bond.

The positive: Many critics particularly praise the charismatic cast (which includes Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson and Eiza Gonzalez), the clever dialogue, the black humor and the bloody action. For example Variety, TheWrap or Inverse.

The negative: In other reviews (such as from The Hollywood Reporter or Slash film) the criticism is that the film remains very superficial and sometimes even flat. Accordingly, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare has problems with tonality and can't really decide whether it wants to remain consistently funny or action-heavy.

It remains to be seen when we in Germany will be able to get our own impression of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. It is not known whether and when Guy Ritchie's latest film will be released in cinemas in this country or only on Amazon Prime Video.