The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

I had heard of the 60's television show "The Man from UNCLE", but like most of us under the age of 60, never got the chance to see an episode. I know, I know, there have been countless re-runs, it just never grabbed my attention. I am not familiar with the original show, it was way before my generation. However, with the dark tones of many blockbusters nowadays, it's refreshing to return to a lighter and more vibrant movie in the spy-genre. On top of that with Guy Ritchie directing, known for his witty dialogue and often odd humour, I had to check out his latest effort.

Let me start by saying, this is a good movie. The star of the show is undoubtedly the director, Guy Ritchie and like most film buffs, was more curious than excited about U.N.C.L.E.'s arrival. I was curious to see what Ritchie could do with a television program that has been dead and buried for over fifty years



The style of the movie is what will immediately grab the attention of the audience. Although it may be a little over-romanticised, Guy Ritchie beautifully captures the glamour of the 60s. From the locales, cars, outfits, even the music are all aesthetically rich and beautiful. Still this movie is not all style, the three major characters are perfectly cast leading to an entertaining chemistry among them. Henry Cavill plays the more suave gentleman using his charisma to get what he wants. Whereas Armie Hammer's character is a more rugged man, and you really don't want to be on his bad side. These differences between the two complement well with each other and that's why half the fun of the movie is just watching them interact.

Don't come into this movie expecting to see anything new, here, you have your basic spy movie plot: Two spies that don't really like each other but have to work together have to stop some evil people that have a bomb, etc. You've seen this stuff before. And it may work in the sense that the movie is a throwback to the spy films of the 1960's but the truth is that as a modern viewer, most of the plot may simply come off as uninteresting.

I'm not trying to say I wasn't entertained by the movie, cause I really was. Although the plot was predictable and not really interesting I really enjoyed Cavill and Hammer's chemistry on screen. Also, by now I'm a pretty big fan of Alicia Vikander, who was amazing in Ex Machina as well. The rivalry between the CIA agent vs. KGB agent is pretty fun to watch. I mentioned Hugh Grant earlier and the truth is every scene he's in he just steals it, he's great in this.

In the end, this is a spy movie with endless clichés, from start to finish, from characters to villains, so it's pretty predictable. But The Man from U.N.C.L.E. manages to entertain. It's fun that won't make your brain work hard, and it's also pretty funny.

7.6/10·IMDb
68%·Rotten Tomatoes
55%·Metacritic
7/10 Verdict