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The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Director: Guy Ritchie
Cast: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Luca Calvani, Sylvester Groth, Hugh Grant, Jared Harris, Christian Berkel, Misha Kuznetsov, David Beckham
Rating: B
Director Guy Ritchie teamed up with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law to bring to life the famed tale of a Victorian English detective and his loyal partner in the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes. Adding a modern twist with plenty of action and special effects, Sherlock Holmes gave audiences the superhero experience from the two main characters in the film, making the production a nice little hit for Ritchie. Now the director is tackling reviving a popular TV show from the 1960s in his latest attempt at creating another dynamic duo on the big screen in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. – this time teaming up with Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer in a story about two rival spies during the cold war that must join forces in order to save the world.
The film starts in 1963 in Berlin with Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill), who works for the CIA, being chased down by Illya (Armie Hammer), who works for the KGB. Both spies are on a mission to acquire Gaby (Alicia Vikander), a beautiful auto mechanic that is the daughter of famed Nazi scientist Dr. Udo Teller (Christain Berkel). Each agent is assigned the task of getting Gaby across the Berlin wall, tracking down her father, and using her as bait to get her father to hand over a computer disk containing all the research for creating a nuclear bomb. Dr. Teller is working for Victoria (Elizabeth Debicki) and Alexander (Luca Calvani), a notorious Nazi husband and wife team that will sell the doctor’s technology to the highest bidder. Whoever gets control of the bomb will get control of the world.
Napoleon manages to skillfully retrieve Gaby but Illya is close behind and determined not to be outsmarted by his CIA counterpart. The two cross paths again in Eastern Europe and are told by their superiors to work together to acquire Gaby’s help in getting the disk from her father while secretly each is instructed to kill the other should one of them comprise the end goal of gaining control of the bomb. An unlikely alliance is formed between the two operatives that leads to an interesting and quirky friendship.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is a snazzy-looking film. It is hard not to notice the amazing clothes the entire cast gets to strut around in making all the actors (that could be mistaken for runway models) look like they stepped out of a Vogue cover shoot from the 60s. There is plenty of glitz and glamour to light up the screen with beautiful shots of Italian tourist spots, fancy hotels and shops, bejeweled women, and high end luxury cars.
At the start of the film we have a great chase sequence between Napoleon and Illya through the streets of Berlin as each tries to win out on claiming Gaby. There is also a super fun and beautifully done action sequence both above and below water. A final chase through the countryside is another section that helps inject life into the movie.
The cast does a fairly decent job pulling off their characters. Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer have great chemistry together as they banter back and forth on how to get the job done. This odd couple provides plenty of entertainment as two guys from different teams that don’t really like each other but somehow manage to start respecting one another. Alicia Vikander adds spunk to the film as the girl with the smarts to figure things out, but her role is not fully developed and often her appearance with Cavill and Hammer makes scenes feel sluggish because she is not fully utilized against the other two actors. Elizabeth Debicki is deliciously evil as the female villain. The Australian actress plays the femme fatale that won’t be outwitted or succumb to the charms of any man, making her character a strong presence in the film. Hugh Grant gets to play the role of Waverly, the head of British intelligence, and provides for a bit of humor in the storyline.
In the first half of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. the story is moving along at a nice pace, but halfway through the story starts to get bogged down and choppy once the two heroes start getting close to accomplishing their goals. Towards the end the film feels like it is coming to a grinding halt and actually starts to get a bit boring. The movie lacks some of the punch, adventure, and intensity of past spy thrillers like the James Bond or Mission Impossible franchises. What should have been a climatic ending comes off as anticlimactic, leaving the spy thriller feeling like it flatlined and just could not be resuscitated. The latest endeavor from Guy Ritchie is not a bad movie but it lacks the charm and intrigue that he injected into Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps if the director gets an opportunity to do sequels he will be able to create depth and suspense to heat up the cold war story about two spies from opposing sides.
