The Man From UNCLE

So I did actually see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 before I saw this movie, however I did just finish it and I wanted to get back in the habit of writing posts as soon as quickly as I could after the actual viewing because that just provides for a better analysis especially if it is fresh in my mind. I promise my review of Mockingjay Part 2 is next, if not being posted tonight, but I thought I should give you a fresh review right now and get to Mockingjay in a little bit.

Back in the sixties, there was a show by the name of The Man from UNCLE. The show centered around a spy organization that utilized the expertise of multiple countries, most prominently, the Soviet Union and The United States. Being the sixties, this was a new concept because the two were basically sworn enemies and any kind of alliance between the two would be preposterous. But it provided for a show that was on the air for four years.

Now, up until this movie came out, I had no idea that this show was actually a thing. I am quite younger than the 60s and have not seen most shows that came out in the sixties. I have not seen The Man from UNCLE. I have nothing to compare it to, and therefore will not have any comparison.

The funny thing is, I don't think too many other people have seen that show either. And if there happens to be anybody who has seen that show, they watched that show about 60 years ago. I'm sure there are people who have watched it since its release but I can't imagine there is a huge fan club that begged for a movie version of this show.

The Man from UNCLE follows the story of two spies for the CIA and the KGB. Henry Cavill plays Napolean Solo, a former thief who was apprehended by the authorities and recruited into the CIA.

On the other side you have Illya Kuryakin (played by Armie Hammer) an agent with the KGB.

These two were the main reason I was interested in this movie. While I really enjoy Henry Cavill in his role as Superman in Man of Steel and the upcoming Batman v Superman, I don't feel like he has a huge filmography and I want to know what he can do beyond Man of Steel. I think that he is a talented actor from what I've seen and this movie definitely helps that case.

Furthermore, I've never really seen a lot of what Armie Hammer has done and I wanted to see him in this movie. I think I always had an unwarranted thing against Armie Hammer because his name was down for Batman for such a long time and I didn't want that because I didn't see him in the role.

Seeing this, I actually could find myself being a little bit more interested in that, however, I'm glad it didn't pull through. However, I do want to give him a little bit more of a chance and I think this was a good place to start.

From the beginning, these two find themselves at odds with one another going after the same target. A girl located in East Berlin during the Cold War. They begin as enemies and it really shows the dynamic between the two of them.

They of course are both trained killers and the best of the best in their respective organizations however they are very different. Solo is more of your suave charismatic type, whereas Kuryakin is your brutish silent killer.

I kind of mentioned it in my review of Spectre, but both are a style of Bond. Solo is a little bit more the Roger Moore or Pierce Brosnan Bond (exactly how I would expect him to be) and Kuryakin is more your Daniel Craig brutish type. Both can pull off the other's speciality, but one is better than the other in some respect.

Anyways, once Solo rescues the girl from East Berlin, the two spies are brought together again but this time are forced to work with one another in order to find the girl's father and stop a nuclear warhead from getting into the wrong hands. The CIA and the KGB working together in order to save the world, putting their best agents together despite them despising one another. Sounds like a popcorn flick to me.

The first thing to say about this movie is the performances. I already touched on the dynamic between Cavill and Hammer and its done very well. These two are really two sides of the same coin but they couldn't be more different and they clash so well that it makes for some really funny lines and really funny sequences.

The girl they use for this operation (played by Alicia Vikander) while not horrible, isn't exactly the best part of the movie. Its not like she can't act or anything, I just thought that they put more time into her weird relationship with Kuryakin and other parts of her story that it kind of took away from what was really good in this movie, the dynamic between Cavill and Hammer. The rest of the cast is your pretty generic spy villains and characters. Again, Gabby (Vikander) isn't bad. She does have an important part in the story and putting everything aside, she's not bad to look at either. But I just didn't enjoy her as much as the other two primary characters.

That is of course with the exception of Hugh Grant. In every review I've read or seen of this movie, everyone says that Hugh Grant really steals the show at the end and its the truth. I wish that this movie had had more of him instead of Vikander and I think I would have enjoyed this movie a lot more than I already did.

It really kind of bums me out because I remember when this movie came out and nobody went to go see it. Which is a shame because it really does have a style of its own and I feel like I had more fun going to this movie than I did going to Spectre believe it or not. I liked both movies but this one just felt like it was more playful and light hearted whereas Spectre was dark and bruiting with oddly timed jokes in it.

Now the ending of this movie suggests a sequel, I don't know if it will happen, especially with the performance at the box office this movie had. However, I did have a lot of fun with this movie and that's something worth mentioning.

The problems I had with this movie is partly something I actually liked about the movie and that's the direction of Guy Ritchie.

While I'm not overly familiar with what makes a Guy Ritchie film a Guy Ritchie film, I do know that this is a style of movie that I'm not totally sure works with a spy thriller movie.

While not nearly as big of a stylistic change, I kind of had moments where I thought, I guess this is what a spy movie directed by Wes Anderson would be like. Though the two have very different styles, this movie is done in a way that is more focused on the moment and the comedy in that particular moment than in the action.

Therefore, the action is stylized in a way that is different and little bit more artsy than I expected. If we're comparing it with Spectre (which you shouldn't) Spectre definitely had better action whereas Man from UNCLE was more stylistic and creative. Now that's not a bad thing, it just wasn't what I expected and might throw you for a loop if you're looking for an action filled spy movie.

Again, its sort of a double edged sword. It works if you go into it thinking you're going to watch a Guy Ritchie film, it might pull you back if you go into thinking you're going to watch an action spy film.

The dialogue is also very sharp. Its a lot of fun when you pay attention. Is it ground breaking? No. Its just good. You probably shouldn't go into this movie thinking that the dialogue or the action is going to blow your mind. Its not. Its just going to be good.

And that's probably the take away you should take from this movie. Its good. Its an entertaining movie with a lot of fun humor, action, and a fun story. Is it groundbreaking? No. Is it bad? Absolutely not. Its just not flashy or different enough to really push its way out in front of the pack. With all the spy movies that came out this year, it will probably be pushed aside and forgotten about, which is a shame because if you're not comparing it to anything, it is a fun movie. However, its just not a movie made for competition.

I can't say enough how much I enjoyed the performances by Hammer and Cavill as well as the surprise delight of Hugh Grant. The rest was pretty okay. Not bad, not good. Just okay. I think if we were giving it a grade, I'd probably give it a C. And you may think that's bad, but I've gone my whole life thinking Cs were middle of the pack good enoughs. Man from UNCLE is pretty much good enough and middle of the pack. Not bad, but not exceptional.

I don't know if it would have made a difference, but I don't think they should have called it Man from UNCLE. I know its based off of the show, but like I said at the beginning, I don't think there was a fan club of the TV show just begging for this movie to be made. And I don't think the marketing should have been so focused on how this was a reboot of the show. I think it should have been marketed as a run of the mill international spy thriller comedy made by Guy Ritchie. Its bound to find some way to make itself stand out, but I feel like some of the drawback could have been them trying to tap into the nostalgia... even though there wasn't much nostalgia to begin with.

But those are my thoughts on The Man from UNCLE. What did you think of it? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for future reviews I should put on the blog. If you want updates on future movie news and reviews, subscribe and you may even get live tweets of movies I am watching a more.

I'll leave you with this. I feel like sometimes I say good things about female actresses, like Vikander in this movie, and always mention she's attractive. I don't know if anybody has an issue with the fact that I say that, but I don't want to appear sexist or only focused on looks. I try to focus on actress's talent more than their looks but sometimes I just can't help it. So I thought I'd even it out by saying out front, Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer are quite handsome looking gentlemen. I wanted to put a video of them reading the phonebook sexily but I'm still figuring out which videos I can put on here and which ones I can't... so here's them playing never have I ever. Enjoy!