The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015) - Movie Review

Guy Ritchie is a very accomplished director, and with two very successful Sherlock Holmes movies under his belt, Warner Bros Pictures gave him a chance to adapt a new material while Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man contract prevents him from filming the anticipated third movie in the series. Ritchie and Lionel Wigram teamed up to adapt The Man From UNCLE for a big-screen 2015 reboot, starring Henry Cavill as Napoleon Solo and Armie Hammer (making a Hollywood comeback) as Illya Kuryakin.

What we have is definitely a film made with love and appreciation for the source material, but also being set in its own style and being made for a more modern audience, with big chase sequences, plenty of humour and even the addition of a female lead protagonist in the form of Alicia Vikander's Gaby Teller.

The whole film is very slick, fast-paced and never becomes boring at any point. The violence is quite minimal in places, mainly due to the film's directorial style, which might not appeal to some, but its all done mostly to help the story go along without stopping for a five minute fight. There aren't any real moments that slow down and focus on the characters as such, as Ritchie places all of his character details and developments in very small doses throughout the entire film, ensuring that whatever the audience is watching is either very funny or a big action sequence.

The cast are very good all round and no one provides a bad performance. Henry Cavill's deadpan comedy consistently works brilliantly against Armie Hammer's more aggressive nature, and Alicia Vikander manages to provide the perfect foil for the both of them. The rest of the cast are all pretty good, although there aren't really any standouts. Hugh Grant's character seems to be all over the advertising, but he never felt integral to the story and him being the one who puts UNCLE together is sadly spoiled in the trailers. I understand it is called The Man From UNCLE, but including the final scene of the movie where UNCLE is first referenced and formed in the trailers seems a bit stupid to me.

The direction is very stylish and Guy Ritchie makes the film stand out against the other spy flicks this year, opting for a big colourful 60's style as opposed to the blue-grey cloudy skies of the more recent Bond and Bourne films. Daniel Pemberton's score is very good, even if it does sound an awful lot like his soundtrack for the BBC Dirk Gently series, and the overall production design evokes the 60's feel.

As most critics have said though, the story is rather basic, which wouldn't be so problematic if it wasn't for the fact that the story is driving the narrative rather than the characters. The twists aren't particularly interesting or original, and the actual goal of the protagonist's mission is a one-note character in the film for the best part of two minutes. Maybe a sequel will be better, but there's nothing much to really invest in with this film. Like I said before, its good, but doesn't do anything really great.

Overall though, nothing really stands out about The Man From UNCLE. The acting is good, direction is good, writing is good...but there isn't anything that great about it all. Its far from being a bad movie, but it never goes above and beyond to make a great one. If I was writing this a year or two ago, I probably would be kinder to it, but it didn't really do much for me. It was a fun piece of entertainment that I'll probably forget about in the next couple of months.