The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is a blast to the past

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With all the reboots, remakes and re-imaginings hitting cinema screens nowadays, it’s nice to see someone take a look at a TV show that had its heyday at the end of the Swinging Sixties, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., serving up not only a spin-off (The GirlFrom U.N.C.L.E.) but several feature films (actually TV episodes with newly filmed footage to add more sex and violence) and a TV movie reunion in 1985.

Since then, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. has developed a loyal, cultish following due to its not being shown much in syndication and only arriving on DVD in 2007. The original series was certainly a result of the popularity at the time of a silver screen super spy (who did get a little nod in the reunion movie), and the new film owes as much to early James Bond as it does to the original TV series.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. starts out guns a-blazing as US agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and Russian agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) are tasked with removing Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander)from the eastern side of the Berlin Wall where she works as a mechanic. Her father escaped to the US and was helping with the bomb program, but he has vanished and both sides fear he is once again working with a neo-Nazi group to develop a nuclear bomb. What Solo and Kuryakin don’t expect is the truce between their countries that then forces them to work together with Gaby.

Kuryakin and Gaby pose as a newly engaged couple to lure her uncle out of hiding so as to get information about her father’s whereabouts. Solo poses as a businessman/thief who makes an offer to acquire certain objects for Italian magnate Victoria Vinciguerra (Elizabeth Debicki), who has ties to Gaby’s uncle, but she may not be exactly who she seems. For that matter, no one may actually be who they seem. Gaby’s father is eventually located, and he has indeed been forced to build a bomb, and Solo and Kuryakin have to figure out how to retrieve it before it gets used.

It could have been very easy for director Guy Ritchie to take the premise of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and update it to the present, stuffing the story with news ripped from the headlines to make it current. Kudos to him and everyone involved for keeping the story so firmly grounded in the 1960s. Not only does it allow audiences a bit of escapism into another era, but it makes for a visually sumptuous film as well from the stunning 60s fashions (all designer, of course) to the production and set design, hair and makeup, and musical score. Everything is so stylistically pitch perfect, you could almost mistake it for a film from that era.

Casting-wise, it’s interesting to have Brit Cavill playing the US spy with Yank Hammer playing the Russian, but they both do a terrific job. Cavill, who is rumored to have had a hard time maintaining the American accent, does speak in a slightly stylized, stilted manner but it suits the character (and makes the case for Cavill to play a live action version of the animated Archer). But his Solo is intelligent and can handle himself in hand-to-hand combat with ease. Hammer also does a good job with his Russian accent (maybe a little too Boris and Natasha, but it’s fine), and can put together an outfit just as easily as he can pummel someone. (The only real nitpick with his character is the unexplained super strength he seems to have). Solo and Kuryakin have a doozy of a fight before they’re forced to team up, but after that the only battle waged is among the audience deciding which one is more handsome (I call it a draw).

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Vikander does a nice job of playing tough but innocent, but Debicki is perfectly cast as a 1960s femme fatale. She has the look, the style, like she was just ripped out of a 60s spy movie and plunked down into this one. It’s hard to take your eyes off of her whenever she’s on screen. The rest of the cast is also top notch and it’s nice to see Hugh Grant show up late in the game to really throw some curve balls at the spies.

It’s interesting to see the decidedly mixed reviews for the film. I thought it was a terrific throwback to that era, but perhaps the trailer has been a bit misleading by portraying the film as non-stop action with a lot of winking humor, almost as a spoof of the original series. It’s definitely not that. There are a few action sequences — and the final car/ATV/motorcycle chase is stunning — and even fewer funny lines. The film actually takes its time building the story instead of hammering the viewer over the head with pyrotechnics. Perhaps some of the critics with short attention spans aren’t able to handle an action movie that actually has a story, but I found it to be enthralling from beginning to end.

The film ends with an obvious set-up for more (hint: Solo and Kuryakin aren’t even U.N.C.L.E. agents until the very last seconds of the movie!), and I, for one, am more than eager for a second helping. Will Ritchie stick with the series and perhaps bring back U.N.C.L.E.’s TV nemesis T.H.R.U.S.H.? The only way that will happen is if people see the movie, so take it from this movie fan — give The Man From U.N.C.L.E.  a shot!

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