Director: Guy Ritchie

Writers: Ivan Atkinson, Marn Davies, and Guy Ritchie

Starring: Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, Josh Hartnett, Cary Elwes, Bugzy Malone, and Hugh Grant

Rating: ★★★½

Operation Fortune is pretty much exactly what you’d expect from a Guy Ritchie spy comedy that’s led by Jason Statham. From the opening scene it’s non-stop fun, with good action and plenty of jokes. It hits the ground running and doesn’t let up for the almost two-hour run-time.

The opening sequence shows Nathan (Cary Elwes) being informed by the British Government that a device known as ‘The Handle’ has been stolen and is tasked with forming a team to get it back. Throughout the exposition heavy opening are scenes of the device being stolen, as well as Nathan recruiting his team. It’s all blended together, keeping everything moving quickly. They don’t even know what the device is, just that it’s being sold by arms dealer Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant). Their mission is to find out what the device is and who the buyer is.

There is no slow-down with the pacing at all and yet, it never feels like too much or exhausting. There’s no wasted time throughout. It’s filled with action, that doesn’t feel quite as explosive as other spy films, but is still exciting to watch. It’s everything you’d want and expect from a spy film – car chases, shoot-outs, heists, and going undercover all in the name of saving the world.

It’s all made better with Hugh Grant clearly having a lot of fun playing another villain. He’s essentially playing the same character as he did in Ritchie’s The Gentleman, with the same voice and slimy personality. Hugh Grant is just great at playing the bad guy, from Paddington 2 to the recent Dungeons and Dragons, the roles suit him perfectly. Jason Statham is also oozing charm, as he usually does. He’s consistently entertaining in everything he’s in, and this isn’t an exception. Aubrey Plaza is brilliant and convincing as an international spy. This would make a good double bill with Plaza’s other recent film, Emily the Criminal.

The plot is completely predictable, as the spy-group travel from place to place to find the device, never having trouble finding clues of where to go next. There’s a twist late in the story, but it’s really obvious that it’s going to happen quite early-on. None of that detracts too much from the film, as it’s still entertaining. The characters and jokes more than make up for the standard plot.

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