Stars Armie Hammer, Henry Cavill, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Luca Calvani, Syvester Groth with Jared Harris and Hugh Grant Directed by Guy Ritchie As a TV series back in the 1960, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was very much a lightweight James Bond-ian adventure series (Ian Fleming contributed to the original creation of the series, after all). The current cinematic entry very much follows in that vein, which might be considered a groovy and cool update… or something that leave the viewer a little wanting. As this is very much an “origin movie” neither of our leads is the titular character, although fans of the original TV series might pick up who the title refers to almost immediately. In a nutshell, we have two super operatives from opposing countries having to work together to stop a nuclear plot. That’s really all you need to know, but do enjoy the process which these two enemies need to work through to find common ground. We have Brit Henry Cavill taking on the role of debonair and suave Napoleon Solo, an ex-soldier turned gentleman thief who got caught, and then strong-armed into working for the CIA instead of going to prison. On the other side of the equation, we get American, Arnie Hammer, essaying the role of the fairly dashing and surprisingly charming KGB super-agent, Illya Kuryakin, an intelligent and driven giant of a man with potential psychotic issues. Obviously, both men prefer working alone and neither wants to work with the other. As both are loyal to their countries and their superiors, they follow their orders and get down to business of using Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander) to flush out her scientist father who may be building a nuclear warhead for Victoria Vinciguerra (Elizabeth Debicki). The two lead stars do extremely well in conveying their characters without relying on the works of their predecessors (Robert Vaughn as Solo and David McCallum as Kuryakin in the TV series), making the characters wholly their own. Their on-screen pairing ins remarkable and the dialogue they get to play with is electrifyingly spot-on and funny at times (an argument on women’s fashion comes to mind). Add to that Cavill’s suave line delivery and Hammer’s more brusque tones and you get a very nice sense of their characteristics. These two very ably carry the movie and very likely the whole franchise should the studio decide to pursue more entries, preferably with director Guy Ritchie at the helm. Ritchie’s direction capture more than just the period and tone, keeping lots of the action set-pieces fairly old-school. There is very little reliance on computer graphic effects (only four effects companies listed in the credits!) outside of creating the era There is a huge focus on fashion, design, sets and style, right down to Daniel Pemberton’s amazing jazzy driving score, and the use of period music. If there is a fault, it’s more with Ritchie’s story structure. More than once, we get an outcome to a situation only to jump back a few minutes to see how that outcome came about. Otherwise, even the editing is impeccable (the establishing of location in the final chase scene comes to mind), right down to the use of split screens. The tone is light and rightfully so, with a cast of utterly appealing characters, even the villains. The humour works incredibly well and the action plays out with a decent pump of adrenaline. The cast deliver solid performances and just as much work from behind the screen is delivered in some gorgeous visuals, from the design work to the cinematography. It also still carries some ‘origin movie’ issues, ending with that desire for another adventure that’s just waiting in the wings instead of being up in the air and not knowing if we can revisit this world again. Rating: **** / 5 Partridge Publishing / Barnes and Noble / Amazon / ISBNS Net (for best deals) - Please support by buying or recommending to others, then I can watch more shows and do more reviews. Thank you. The Syndi-Jean Journal: Year 2 is now available.
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