The Man From UNCLE was a long time in coming. Attempts at a revival go back to the 1980s, with nothing, other than a reunion TV movie, ever coming to fruition. Finally, Guy Ritchie delivered a film and it is one that captures the feel of the era. The Man From UNCLE grew out of the spy-fi craze that followed the success of the early James Bond films, and delivered weekly doses of superagents Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuryakin, along with some amateur, as they matched wits with agents of THRUSH and other baddies. This time out, we get a sort of prequel, as American agent Napoleon Solo finds himself reluctantly working with KGB agent Ilya Kuryakin, as well as amateur Gabby Teller, as they hunt for Teller's father, a German nuclear scientist, in the hands of neo- Nazis. The film is set firmly in the period and gives us the intrigue of an escape over the Berlin Wall, car chases, brutal fistfights, elaborate gadgets, doublecrosses, exotic locales and everything that was great about the classic Bond films; and, to a lesser extent, UNCLE. Henry Caville and Armie Hammer make a fine duo and the film is a nice blend of humor, action, and intrigue, in the best traditions of UNCLE. No new ground is broken; however, an entertaining film is delivered, especially to those who miss the classic era of Bond films, where things were a bit larger than life.
There are little nods here and there, for fans, as Solo is given a back story derived from such classics as Harry Palmer and David Callan (a crook blackmailed into working for an intelligence agency) and Kuryakin has touches in tribute to David McCallum and the UNCLE reunion film (where Kuryakin had become a fashion designer, after leaving UNCLE). If it has a failure, it's that the film sometimes buries some great scenes in montages, probably a nod to shorter attention spans of modern audiences. Even that is a minor flaw. My only other quibble is that the UNCLE special is largely buried in a nighttime action sequence, though we get a glimpse, of a different version, at the closing credits.
All in all, this film delivers most of what I have been missing from the newer Bond films and the kind of sprawling adventure I always wanted on the TV series, good as it was. If you are a span of spy- fi, you will enjoy this.
There are little nods here and there, for fans, as Solo is given a back story derived from such classics as Harry Palmer and David Callan (a crook blackmailed into working for an intelligence agency) and Kuryakin has touches in tribute to David McCallum and the UNCLE reunion film (where Kuryakin had become a fashion designer, after leaving UNCLE). If it has a failure, it's that the film sometimes buries some great scenes in montages, probably a nod to shorter attention spans of modern audiences. Even that is a minor flaw. My only other quibble is that the UNCLE special is largely buried in a nighttime action sequence, though we get a glimpse, of a different version, at the closing credits.
All in all, this film delivers most of what I have been missing from the newer Bond films and the kind of sprawling adventure I always wanted on the TV series, good as it was. If you are a span of spy- fi, you will enjoy this.