OPERATION FORTUNE: RUSE DE GUERRE

Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham reunite for another wacky, funny, and action-packed adventure while also featuring quite the ensemble with Aubrey Plaza, Hugh Grant, Cary Elwes, and Josh Hartnett. The basic premise of the story is something gets stolen from a laboratory that can have a cataclysmic impact on the globe. It's then auctioned on the black market for the highest bidder hellbent on world destruction. What is stolen and how it works isn't revealed until midway through. However, the story isn't the reason you're watching the film, but rather the cast. Each individual chews up their respective scenes, almost dueling it out in front of the audience. Statham is the main star and balls of the operation. He has no fear, is always calm under pressure, and has a taste beyond his means. Plaza is the computer savvy tech hack who supports all of Statham's moves, and is just as valuable behind a desk as Statham is in the field. I applaud the efforts of Ritchie for making the character more than one dimensional. She's smart, funny, beautiful, and can handle a weapon. Elwes leads this team for the British government while Grant masterfully plays the villain and is the middleman between the buyers and sellers. He's also obsessed with movie star Danny Francesco (Hartnett) and that's how Elwes' team is initially introduced to Grant via Danny, who is the trojan horse in this play. Not an A film from Ritchie but it's most definitely a solid B and if you enjoy fun character studies, I don't think you'll be disappointed with this. 6.5/10