The Man from U.N.C.L.E., 2015.
Directed by Guy Ritchie.
Starring Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Luca Calvani, Sylvester Groth, Jared Harris, and Hugh Grant.
SYNOPSIS:
In the early 1960s, CIA agent Napoleon Solo and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin participate in a joint mission against a mysterious criminal organization, which is working to proliferate nuclear weapons.
Television to movie adaptations are tricky to pull off. In one hand you have the mammoth critical and commercial success of the Mission: Impossible franchise or you have the financial disaster and rather dull The Lone Ranger. In terms of entertainment, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. sits somewhere in the middle. It’s entertaining, well-acted and highly stylised – it is however one of those films that you forget about within an hour of leaving the cinema.
The convoluted plot plays a large part in this. We’re introduced to American agent Napoleon Solo (Cavill) who is reminiscent of the charm that Pierce Brosnan brought to Bond. His back story is glossed over within a few minutes and never mentioned again. The same as with KGB agent Illya Kuryakin (Hammer). All we know about him is that his father was disgraced and he has some serious anger issues. Thrown together along with German mechanic Gaby (Vikander) the three of them have to foil a nuclear plot. The mismatched buddy routine works really well and Cavill and Hammer deliver great one liners and seem to be enjoying the kitsch 60s setting. The villains’ motivations aren’t ever explained to much satisfaction, leaving you wondering why all of this is happening in the first place.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is clearly a Guy Ritchie film straight from the off. From the jazz music and split screen used throughout to the snappy dialogue. It at times feel like plot has been forgotten in order to demonstrate how many different filming techniques Ritchie can demonstrate within one film. Whilst this works in some sections – a great scene with Solo sitting back and watching Kuryakin struggle against a bunch of armed men in a boat is a real highlight – others don’t fair so well. The final action sequence of the film is chaotic and almost makes you feel sea sick from the amount of jumping around between characters.
This is not to say that The Man from U.N.C.L.E isn’t an enjoyable film. After being restrained and straight-faced in Man of Steel, Cavill gets to show off his comedic acting chops and proves to have great timing and the type of on the nose wit that could make him the next Bond. Hammer as well manages to create a decent amount of humour with his character and the physical stunt work is exceptional. The supporting cast don’t succeed as well. Vikander is little more than window dressing and Jared Harris appears in a handful of scenes and isn’t that good in any of them. Hugh Grant is amusing as MI6 man Waverely. Even though he’s only in a few scenes he offers a good amount of laughs.
With the film set up to create a franchise, you can hope that if successful the next outing will pay more attention to the plot. What makes The Man from U.N.C.L.E. enjoyable is that it embraces the silliness of 1960’s spy movies and without any apology.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Helen Murdoch is a freelance writer – Follow me on Twitter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=8k_v0cVxqEY
Originally published August 16, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
