Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre
Lionsgate | Release Date: March 3, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
23
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeApr 10, 2023
And here’s the problem for Statham’s super spy: for all the Ukrainian gangsters he nuts and helicopters he pilots, Orson Fortune is just not particularly interesting or fleshed out as a character. Plaza and Grant, meanwhile, steal every scene they touch. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyApr 7, 2023
It’s daft, disposable fun while it lasts. Read full review
60
EmpireCatherine BrayApr 6, 2023
Riper than the ripest of ripe Brie, this crime caper provides a ridiculous vehicle for the talents of pretty much everyone involved, all of whom appear to be having a splendid time. Taken on these terms, viewers probably will too. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeMar 2, 2023
It’s slick in one moment and a little too scrappy the next but Ritchie’s puppyish insistence that you have as much as fun as his stars is hard to resist. The film’s bizarrely reticent rollout might have already killed any chance of further operations but there have been far, far worse franchise-starters in recent years. Read full review
60
We Got This CoveredScott CampbellMar 1, 2023
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre delivers exactly what you'd expect from an R-rated Guy Ritchie spy caper with Jason Statham in the lead role, with the offbeat and energetic espionage adventure worthy of at least a sequel or two. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattMar 3, 2023
Globe-trotting tomfoolery ensues, in ways never quite as witty or engaging as you want them to be, though Hugh Grant and Josh Hartnett bring a certain insouciant zing. Read full review
50
The Film StageAlistair RyderMar 9, 2023
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is the latest in a long line of diminishing returns for Ritchie, made mildly diverting through the strength of its performances even as a central spy mystery struggles to give reason why it’s worth investing in. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 6, 2023
Unfortunately, the lukewarm spy thriller offers a convoluted, meandering storyline that’s almost entirely devoid of tension and suspense. There’s less action than one might expect and the character development is so thin that even when a character is in danger, it’s hard to care. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckMar 3, 2023
Some of the dialogue is fun, especially as delivered by Plaza, who amusingly always seems to be commenting on the outlandish proceedings even while taking part in them. And now that Grant’s pretty boy handsomeness has matured with age, he’s eagerly leaning into the character actor stage of his career. Chewing the scenery with gusto, he gives the film a jolt of comic energy whenever he’s onscreen. Read full review
50
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiMar 2, 2023
Lazily bopping around to exotic locales in France, Turkey and Qatar, it’s a generic collage of mega-yachts, luxe hotels, fancy parties, disguised identities and tame fights that add up to a big nothing. Read full review
50
The Associated PressJocelyn NoveckMar 2, 2023
It’s an odd paradox that this movie feels both high-minded and also at times frustratingly pedestrian. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMar 1, 2023
Is “Operation Fortune” a cure for the blues? No. It’s an appetizer for better things to come, an amuse-bouche at best — at worst, a placeholder meal of cinematic comfort food, tiding us all over until it’s summer blockbuster season again. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 1, 2023
Unfortunately, “Operation Fortune” doesn’t consist entirely of scenes between Grant and Plaza. There are pockets of genuine life onscreen, followed by long, dull stretches. The movie always gets better, but then it always gets worse. Then gets better again. It’s that kind of experience. Read full review
50
ObserverOliver JonesMar 1, 2023
Landing in multiplexes more than a year late after some business reshuffling and rewrites (not a good idea for your bad guys to be Ukrainian gangsters at this moment in history), Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is a slick and empty-headed spy thriller that is almost instantly forgettable. Read full review
50
The PlaylistSimon ThompsonMar 1, 2023
The cast does its best with what they’ve got but only so much can be done. The mission might be complete, but it’s hard to call it a success, and there were undoubtedly casualties. Read full review
50
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaMar 1, 2023
The action and the scenes with Grant's sleazeball arms dealer are the only situations where "Operation Fortune" feels genuinely alive and not like a collection of tired jokes and so-so set pieces. Read full review
42
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonMar 2, 2023
Operation Fortune is a spy “comedy” insofar as it generally shrugs in the direction of parody: its characters presume the air of cheeky sendup without actually committing to it, whether it’s Statham’s grumpy skull-cracker or Plaza’s confused deadpan. Read full review
40
Film ThreatAlan NgApr 5, 2023
Operation Fortune is an action movie. So, how are the fisticuffs and shootouts? They couldn’t be any blander. Yes, there is a lot of action, but I don’t remember anything cool until the end. It’s your standard gunplay, hand-to-hand combat, and car and motorcycle chases. Read full review
40
Screen RantFerdosa AbdiMar 10, 2023
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is a superficial spy mission that is joyless and charmless. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerMar 6, 2023
Operation Fortune is just one long series of heist sequences that run at the same speed, at the same tone, and all flatly shot by Ritchie's new regular cinematographer, Alan Stewart. Read full review
40
Rolling StoneDavid FearMar 3, 2023
There are tiny glimpses of someone who has genuine chops behind the camera, almost but not quite enough to make you think that, given more time and focus, he could have made something out of these spare parts. Or maybe, just maybe, this whole botched Operation is designed to make his older, possibly lesser work look better. Read full review
40
The New York TimesBrandon YuMar 2, 2023
The silly premise is one that a better Ritchie film could, with some charm, style and wit, have turned into a workable romp. But everything here is stuck on autopilot. Read full review
40
TheWrapRobert AbeleMar 1, 2023
Ritchie has always been a performative director, so maybe Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is right in line with his jocular acts of gutter criminality and Hollywood imitations, existing in a kind of touristy netherworld of entertainment – more a handsomely mounted “ruse” of an action comedy than one itself. Read full review
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