Guy Ritchie is the latest name at risk of being ‘cancelled’ after fans criticise how few female characters appear in his films.
The British director and filmmaker has released a new action comedy called The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which stars Henry Cavill, Eiza Gonazalez, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Henry Golding and Til Schweiger.
The film revolves around a ragtag team of secret agents sent to sabotage Nazi U-boats during the Second World War.
It’s described as an exaggerated spin on the real-life mission known as Operation Postmaster – a British special operation conducted on the Spanish island of Fernando Po, now known as Bioko, off West Africa in the Gulf of Guinea, during WWII.
Cavill’s character – army commando Gus March-Phillipps – has long been speculated to have been an inspiration for Ian Fleming’s James Bond.
While the film has received a pretty complimentary score of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, viewers are criticising Ritchie for once again casting a predominantly male group of actors.
There is only one main female character in the new release, much like the director’s other films – Snatch, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and The Gentlemen.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’s singular female character goes by the name Marjorie Stewart – played by Gonzalez – and operates as a female agent thrust into the action to help the boys win one over on the Nazi’s.
However, instead of presenting Marjorie as a strong independent woman who can hold her own alongside her male counterparts, Ritchie continues the ‘Bond girl’ stereotype of glamourous-looking, red-lipstick wearing piece of eye candy to distract the baddies.
One X user tweeted: “Assuming this isn’t a joke, Guy Ritchie has made his film again. Spectacular use of ONE female far at the back. Well done, everyone.”
Another wrote: “Watching The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and Guy Ritchie just f**king HATES women, dosen’t he? At least one gets a name in this movie.”
Others were quick to point out the fact that Ritchie was simply accurately depicting a very real historical event, which just happened not to include many women.
One person wrote: “Why are there people complaining that Guy Ritchie’s new film The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare needs more women and weren’t casted? The film is based on a REAL event. Why throw in women characters for the sake of it. Leave it out.”
Another posted: “Why aren’t there more women in the dramatisation of Operation Postmaster?
“I’d take a punt that it’s because there weren’t in the actual story! Seems a strange issue for a film critic to get hung up on.”
One other sarcastically added: “I can’t believe Guy Ritchie would do this. He’s such a supporter of women.”
The 55-year-old hasn’t responded to any of the backlash as of yet. It’s unlikely that he will, considering he largely tends to stay out of the spotlight.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is available to stream now with a Prime Video membership.
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