3/5 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. It may seem like Guy Ritchie has come a long way since his first (and best) film, 1998’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. On a surface level, Lock, Stock and 2000’s Snatch. are polar opposites from Ritchie’s more recent films: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and two Robert Downey Jr.-led Sherlock films. Take a closer look, though, and you begin to see that they are not all that different. All of his films tend to be colorful, zany, and derivative, with varying degrees of that useful entertainment factor. His first handful of films were largely derivative of Tarantino, but they maintained a steady level of whizzy pacing that you could hardly care less. Ritchie’s later films, unfortunately, have declined to the worst type of derivation: franchises. Having exhausted Downey’s Sherlock of all fun and surprise, the director has set his sights on another classic title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E., a spy series that ran from 1964-68. The show made a bold statement of teaming an American (Robert Vaughn) and a Russian (NCIS’s David McCallum), but its greatest achievement is definitely its contribution to the sexual awakening of Sally Draper - who can forget the Mad Men masturbation episode? Much like he did with Sherlock Holmes, Ritchie changes almost nothing to the original premise. It would be refreshing if his idea of “remake” included at least one new aspect to make the series feel fresh. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. instead casts a few gorgeous people, winds them up, and sets them on a generic plot track that involves nuclear bombs, double agents, and an evil heiress (Elizabeth Debicki). | Director: Guy Ritchie Starring: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Hugh Grant Writers: Guy Ritchie, Lionel Wigram |
One thing Sherlock benefitted from was the casting of Downey Jr., one of the most charismatic presences in modern cinema. U.N.C.L.E. is not as lucky. In the role of Solo, the American, is Henry Cavill (Man of Steel); playing Illya, the Soviet, is Armie Hammer (The Lone Ranger). The sad thing is, these two leads combined cannot muster up a fraction of what Downey can do by himself. Cavill and Hammer go through the motions and recite their lines smooth enough, but I cannot say much more than that. Thankfully, Hugh Grant pops up occasionally to lay done some affecting British humor - I could have used much more of him.
The most disappointing casting decision of all would have to be the phenomenal Alicia Vikander as Gaby. Vikander is relatively new in the industry, but her one-two punch of Ex Machina and Testament of Youth more than proved her chops. She brings that same emotional spunk to U.N.C.L.E., even when Ritchie and Lionel Wigram’s bland script that gives her little to do.
Even though I have been pretty relentless up to this point, I actually found the film to be 116 minutes well spent. Yes, the writing and acting were both wishy-washy, but U.N.C.L.E.’s thick coat of sixties sheen is cool all the way. Cavill may have the charisma of a block of marble, but his retro suits would make Don Draper proud. And do not even get me started out Vikander’s groovy gear. Are these pro’s superficial? Is a movie good because it has a couple well-directed action sequences? Absolutely not, especially a movie based around spies and espionage. One more question: could you do worse in this Summer wasteland? Definitely, you could be seeing Fantastic Four.
The most disappointing casting decision of all would have to be the phenomenal Alicia Vikander as Gaby. Vikander is relatively new in the industry, but her one-two punch of Ex Machina and Testament of Youth more than proved her chops. She brings that same emotional spunk to U.N.C.L.E., even when Ritchie and Lionel Wigram’s bland script that gives her little to do.
Even though I have been pretty relentless up to this point, I actually found the film to be 116 minutes well spent. Yes, the writing and acting were both wishy-washy, but U.N.C.L.E.’s thick coat of sixties sheen is cool all the way. Cavill may have the charisma of a block of marble, but his retro suits would make Don Draper proud. And do not even get me started out Vikander’s groovy gear. Are these pro’s superficial? Is a movie good because it has a couple well-directed action sequences? Absolutely not, especially a movie based around spies and espionage. One more question: could you do worse in this Summer wasteland? Definitely, you could be seeing Fantastic Four.