The Man from U.N.C.L.E., the new film from British director Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes film franchise, RocknRolla, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) looks fairly promising. Though the film is yet another spy saga and is coming just weeks after Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, it has many ingredients that merit a watch.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E., the new film from British director Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes film franchise, RocknRolla, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) looks fairly promising. Though the film is yet another spy saga and is coming just weeks after Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, it has many ingredients that merit a watch.
Set in the golden age of espionage, the Cold War era, The Man from U.N.C.L.E brings together a terrific cast that is spearheaded by the Man of Steel himself, Henry Cavill and Social Network’s Armie Hammer.
The film takes us back to the 1960s (which also served as the backdrop
for X-Men: First Class) where American CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and Russian KGB operative Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) are forced to drop nationalistic hostility in order to work together on a joint mission to take down a nefarious criminal organisation with aims to upset the balance of power.
The film is an adaptation or a stylish new spin, if you will, of a popular ‘60s television series, courtesy Guy Ritchie, who, as it turns out, wasn’t the first choice to fill the director’s shoes. He was signed on as director only after Academy-Award winning filmmaker, Steven Soderbergh dropped out.
Despite garnering mixed reviews from critics, the film has managed to make audiences happy. According to Rotten Tomato stats, the film has scored a whopping 81 per cent with audiences while critics are holding steady with a 67 per cent.
James Berardinelli, in his review for Reelviews says about the film: “Ritchie directs with a deft touch, allowing things to move at a rapid clip while maintaining a light, sometimes humorous tone. This is a less intense movie than Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (no one climbs around on the outside of an airborne airplane) but that’s not a bad thing. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is by no means a straightforward comedy or satire but it’s more playful than the Tom Cruise-fronted blockbuster.”
Spy thrillers, along with superheroes and sequels, dominate Hollywood. Daniel Craig’s James Bond, Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne are three of the most popular cinematic spies in modern-day Hollywood. But where most of these films dabble in dark spaces, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. relies on comic humour and has a fresh, feel-good, fun vibe to it, an idea that was also visible in Colin Firth’s Kingsman: The Secret Service.
