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The Man from U.N.C.L.E (12A)
Directed by Guy Ritchie
3/5
The ’60s classic spy TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E is given the Guy Ritchie big screen treatment, resulting in a rather sexy, slick and stylish action-packed adventure, which lacks substance or political bite.
But it barely registers because of Ritchie’s ability to distract you with elaborate adrenaline pumping non-stop action scenes and the two charismatic leading men in the shape of Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer.
Cavill plays the smooth and suave CIA agent Napoleon Solo (portrayed by Robert Vaughan in the TV series), while Hammer plays his Russian counterpart the KGB operative Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum in the show) who is unrefined and has anger management issues.
The pair are forced to team up to stop a mysterious international criminal organisation determined to proliferate nuclear weapons.
Set in the early 1960s at the height of the cold war the film begins with the duo trying to kill each other as they attempt to extract the same German asset Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander) — the daughter of a vanished German scientist — from behind the Berlin Wall.
It is an unremarkable story masked by the great repartees and onscreen chemistry of Cavill and Hammer whose characters are ruthlessly competitive and are constantly trying to outdo each other in a US vs Russia way.
Their detailed discussion on designer fashion and haute couture is one of the highlights of the film. Vikander, who is excellent as the feisty and independent Teller, seems more like a third wheel in what proves to be essentially a buddy film.
They are joined by Hugh Grant as Waverley and Elizabeth Debicki as a wealthy ice blonde villain (Victoria).
Sadly there are no cameos by Vaughan or McCallum.The film captures the look, tone and sound of the ’60s wonderfully giving a modern edge to it but it merely uses the politics of the time as a backdrop for the action around the birth of U.N.C.L.E., a secret international counter espionage agency.
Another case of Ritchie opting for style over substance.
