The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Don't Go! Purposeless makeover of obsolete spies.
Cold War spy TV remake.
Guy Ritchie gave us two classic British crime capers in the shape of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2002). A few flops followed, before he found success again with two palatable Robert Downey infused Sherlock Holmes blockbusters, the most recent coming in 2011. Having apparently rediscovered some relevance, he's trying his hand at the spy genre, with a film remake of the 1960s American TV show, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
U.N.C.L.E. is a daft name. Its meaning (United Network Command for Law Enforcement) is also daft. We should forgive it - it was the 60s. They didn't have the internet or universal civil rights. All the same, it loosely translates into a Cold War era pairing between a suave American super spy (Henry Cavill, Man of Steel), and a rigid Russian mega-spy (Armie Hammer, The Social Network). We see them attempt to get over their obvious differences in political and social leanings to heroically combat a common enemy. Thrown into the mix is East German mechanic Alicia Vikander (Ex_Machina), whose father is a former Nazi nuclear scientist and defector to the US; giving us a trio of potentially combustible characters. The villains are a German racing driver (Luca Calvani, The International) and his Italian aristocrat wife (Elizabeth Debicki, The Great Gatsby). Hugh Grant also pops up as the head of the British spy service. This gives us an Englishman playing an American, an American playing a Russian, a Swede playing a German, an Italian playing a German, an Australian playing an Italian and Hugh Grant playing...Hugh Grant. Which all seems eminently sensible.
U.N.C.L.E. is a daft name. Its meaning (United Network Command for Law Enforcement) is also daft. We should forgive it - it was the 60s. They didn't have the internet or universal civil rights. All the same, it loosely translates into a Cold War era pairing between a suave American super spy (Henry Cavill, Man of Steel), and a rigid Russian mega-spy (Armie Hammer, The Social Network). We see them attempt to get over their obvious differences in political and social leanings to heroically combat a common enemy. Thrown into the mix is East German mechanic Alicia Vikander (Ex_Machina), whose father is a former Nazi nuclear scientist and defector to the US; giving us a trio of potentially combustible characters. The villains are a German racing driver (Luca Calvani, The International) and his Italian aristocrat wife (Elizabeth Debicki, The Great Gatsby). Hugh Grant also pops up as the head of the British spy service. This gives us an Englishman playing an American, an American playing a Russian, a Swede playing a German, an Italian playing a German, an Australian playing an Italian and Hugh Grant playing...Hugh Grant. Which all seems eminently sensible.
A striking question before even watching a film version of a dated TV series, is why did they even bother making it? Why not come up with something new, inventive and exciting? The answer should be that the concepts and characters that the show gave us 50 years ago are as relevant today as ever, and - given a modern twist and some cinematic treatment - we, the people from the future, can now all enjoy the beauty of how times may change but ideas are remarkably (and perhaps tragically) cyclical. The alternative would be to make a film as dated as the name on the poster for reasons of pure, misguided nostalgia; but dress it up well enough so that no-one notices that it's a largely pointless effort to create a decade-long, money-spinning franchise. Intentionally or not, and despite its potential, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. disappointingly falls into the latter category.
It comes across as being a slick version of a spoofy TV show that became an unsuccessful caricature of itself. Set largely in Italy, the film divulges a wealth of style and sexiness, but like a refurbished classic Ferrari with no engine, the sinuous curves and smooth lines alone are incapable of taking us anywhere. The dialogue is emphatically trite, lacking the playfulness that so characterised Ritchie's original and most acclaimed films. The delivery of the dialogue is barely any better. Cavill in particular plays his character in such a wooden way that his spectacularly handsome features and physique reveal themselves as having been carved by a master carpenter. To give Cavill the benefit of the doubt, this approach could be a deliberate ruse - along with actors putting on uncomfortable accents - to play up to the jokey spoofiness of the TV original. But the odd accents and oaken acting become far more distracting than bemusing.
It comes across as being a slick version of a spoofy TV show that became an unsuccessful caricature of itself. Set largely in Italy, the film divulges a wealth of style and sexiness, but like a refurbished classic Ferrari with no engine, the sinuous curves and smooth lines alone are incapable of taking us anywhere. The dialogue is emphatically trite, lacking the playfulness that so characterised Ritchie's original and most acclaimed films. The delivery of the dialogue is barely any better. Cavill in particular plays his character in such a wooden way that his spectacularly handsome features and physique reveal themselves as having been carved by a master carpenter. To give Cavill the benefit of the doubt, this approach could be a deliberate ruse - along with actors putting on uncomfortable accents - to play up to the jokey spoofiness of the TV original. But the odd accents and oaken acting become far more distracting than bemusing.
The Cold War was defined by what did not happen rather than what did. It is not a naturally exciting period and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. offers little more than funky dresses and three buttoned suits to spice it up. Instead, setting the story in 1963 offers a great excuse for regurgitating a backwards view of both sexes. We are heart-sinkingly dragged back to churlish men who bicker like toddlers, but still manage to fornicate, fondle, patronise and eventually emancipate (sexually or otherwise) a range of beautiful, eyelash-wafting damsels, all of whom spend the film in slinky outfits either quivering at the knees, quivering with fear, or being triumphed over by the oh-so-clever boys. There is even a lack of enjoyable action to divert our attention from all of the film's shortcomings. It all ends up being amazingly dull, silly and groan-inducing.
So don't go. It could have been a cool, modern espionage film, but it falls on the side of a classy-looking 2-hour-long pastiche of a TV show, which on this evidence, was rightly cancelled 47 years ago.
So don't go. It could have been a cool, modern espionage film, but it falls on the side of a classy-looking 2-hour-long pastiche of a TV show, which on this evidence, was rightly cancelled 47 years ago.
#themanfromuncle #manfromuncle #cinema #moviereview #filmreview #movies #films #godontgo