I’ve seen the new “Man from U.N.C.L.E.” movie twice now, and loved every minute of it! Directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer as super spies Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, the film is not so much a reboot of the classic television series as it is a prequel to the beloved ’60s show. As a fan of the series, I did have my doubts going in to the movie: I wasn’t a big fan of the director, though the cast looked promising, and there were to be no cameo appearances by series stars Robert Vaughn and David McCallum. However, I’d seen McCallum himself praising the movie, and that was good enough for me!
Any lingering doubts were erased during the first few minutes: Solo enters East Berlin to find a young German woman (Alicia Vikander) whom the CIA hopes will help them find a former Nazi scientist before the weapon he’s devised can fall into the wrong hands. However, Solo isn’t the only one who’s looking for her: Kuryakin, a top KGB agent, is prowling about in the shadows, waiting to pounce on them. An action-packed game of cat & mouse ensues, and by the time Solo and the girl make their escape, you’ll be hooked just like I was!
Cavill, probably best known for his work as Clark Kent/Superman in 2013’s “Man of Steel” and as Duke Charles Brandon on “The Tudors,” seems completely at ease – and appears to be having a great time – in his performance as Napoleon Solo. He perfected the art of portraying an iconic character, paying homage to past characterizations while making the role his own, in “Man of Steel” and I think he has nimbly accomplished this again in “U.N.C.L.E.” He also looks fantastic in the sharply tailored suits that Solo favors!
Hammer is also eminently watchable as Kuryakin, though at 6’5″ he bears only a passing resemblance to David McCallum! I only knew him from 2013’s box office flop, “The Lone Ranger,” in which he starred as the Masked Man opposite Johnny Depp’s Tonto, but he may be familiar to other viewers from appearances on “The Reaper” and “Gossip Girl,” as well as a role in “The Social Network.” (I actually thought he was great in “The Lone Ranger” and enjoyed that film very much, but its drawbacks to fans of that classic show may have included too much slapstick comedy and Depp’s oddities as Tonto. But I digress ….) Hammer’s Kuryakin has a short fuse and a secret agent skill set that both complements and sometimes surpasses Solo’s, making them a somewhat unlikely team at first … but that’s where the fun begins!
I loved the backstory that this new take on “U.N.C.L.E.” gives us, filling in the biographical blanks for Solo and Kuryakin quite logically and giving the actors an interesting palette to work with as they develop their characters. I also loved the soundtrack, which included some great 1960’s vocals as well as a super cool, snappy score by Daniel Pemberton. Fashion fans should consider this movie a must-see for both the men’s and women’s clothing and accessories (and I loved the scene where Solo and Kuryakin are arguing over how best to dress Vikander’s character, Gaby, for her undercover role as Illya’s fiance’!) Finally, I have to say that I appreciated the linear progression of the plot: spy thrillers on film are often so convoluted as to be nearly impossible to follow, leaving you more befuddled than entertained by the time the credits roll. While the intelligent script does have its twists and surprises, it was always enjoyable and never overwhelming.
Action-packed, witty, suspenseful and stylish, with peril, passion and playfulness in equal measure, the new “Man from U.N.C.L.E.” left me hoping for a sequel in the near future … and making plans to see this end-of-summer treat for a third time very soon. To paraphrase one of Kuryakin’s lines in the movie, “Loving your work, cowboys!”
Whiskers on Kittens 