The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

[Athena]

Release Date: August 14, 2015.

 

Directed by Guy Ritchie and co-written by Lionel Wigram. The film stars Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Elizabeth Debicki, Alicia Vikander, and Hugh Grant.

 

Comic-Con Trailer:

 

[SeanC]

This is looking to be a good year for retro-themed spy films.

[AimingforYoko]

The best thing that Ritchie did was keep this in the '60s. When this project was announced, I was terrified he was going to update it, which would not work at all.

Edited July 30, 2015 by AimingforYoko

[Raja]

I m afraid that it may be like Maverick, or I Spy, though that had a then revalent Cosby link, just too old to draw the nostalgia audience. At almost 55 the show was over before my time and it never had the syndicated life or theme song of Mission Impossible

[MrsRafaelBarba]

This is Henry's audition reel, to become the next Bond. 

[vavera4ka]

You had me at Henry Cavill, movie.

/shallow moment

Edited July 30, 2015 by vavera4ka

[scarynikki12]

You had me at Henry Cavill, movie.

 

Amen, and I'll join you in the shallow end.  We can drink margaritas and swoon at images of his face. 

[JustaPerson]

 

This is Henry's audition reel, to become the next Bond.

word. Take the suave spy persona and add a big dollop of the English accent. Swoon!

[emma675]

Holy hell, even with a cheesy Russian accent, Armie Hammer is just so dreamy.

[Dandesun]

This looks like 60s mod spy Candyland and I am LIVING for it.

 

It looks super fun.

[caracas1914]

God they are both so pretty, but between Henry and Armie it's like mayo and white bread on a beige wall, so generic and basic.

They are pretty.

[Bruinsfan]

word. Take the suave spy persona and add a big dollop of the English accent. Swoon!

The trailers I've seen have him using an American accent, which I guess is true to the character but a disappointment to me nonetheless.

[JustaPerson]

The english accent is for if he were Bond haha 

[ribboninthesky1]

You had me at Henry Cavill, movie.

/shallow moment

 

In a suit! Can't forget that.  I look forward to several Cavill close-ups. I know nothing about the original production besides the title, but mostly I'm looking forward to it because the trailers appeal to me as a good ol' romp with male eye candy (and female eye candy, if that's your thing).    

 

And if someone wants to make Cavill the next Bond, I fully support this. 

[Mars477]

Alicia Vikander doesn't get a gun?

[MarkHB]

BBC review is up.  The reviewer, for the most part, didn't like it.  Referring to the opening sequence:

Combining the immaculate style of an early Bond movie with the shadowy urban landscape of The Third Man, it’s graceful, witty and breathlessly entertaining. The annoying thing is that the rest of the film is nowhere near as good.

[Ohwell]

As far as I'm concerned, "good" is looking at Henry Cavill. 

[Rick Kitchen]

The song they're playing over the credits that are currently running sounds very 60s.

[MerBearHou]

Saw it tonight. We thought it was very fun. Very Guy Ritchie and stylized but some great moments of humor and action. The 60s vibe and fashions are great. Alicia Vikander does a great job. Elizabeth Debecki and Hugh Grant are terrific. Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer are the epitome of handsome and play well together. We'd go see a sequel and hope there will be one.

[SeanC]

This was fun, but I expect that in other summers I might have been keener on it, if 2015 hadn't already produced a couple of films that filled this movie's various niches in superior manners. Kingsman: The Secret Service was the better homage to 1960s spy movies; Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation was the better action film based on a 1960s TV show. The main thing this film has going for compared to those movies is the full-on 60s fashions (the cast definitely looks great wearing them, too). I quite enjoyed Guy Ritchie's two Sherlock Holmes films, and this isn't on that level in terms of fun, despite using many of the same stylistic tics. In particular, the tendency to use rapid-fire flashbacks to reveal what really happened is way less compelling here, particularly when it's recalling things that happened only a few minutes earlier.

 

My biggest takeaway from this movie is that it reinforces my biggest thought about The Great Gatsby: Elizabeth Debicki is a really striking screen presence, and should get more prominent roles.

[Sweet Tee]

 

My biggest takeaway from this movie is that it reinforces my biggest thought about The Great Gatsby: Elizabeth Debicki is a really striking screen presence, and should get more prominent roles.

 

She was good in it but every time I see her, I think it's Rooney Mara.  She looks just like her.  It's  distracting.

 

Anyway, I liked the movie.  Henry Cavill was a lot of fun in it.  That was nice to see because in Man of Steel, he was so bland.  But, that whole movie was bland, so I can't really lay the blame on him.  Loved the 60s style of it.  I didn't like it as much as Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes movies, but it was still fun.

[Rick Kitchen]

One of my biggest pet peeves is anachronistic hair.  And this movie, set in the early 60s, should not have had Napoleon Solo with hair hanging over his collar and his ears.  He should also probably have worn a hat, but this was the time period when men's hats were phasing out, so I'll let that one slide.

 

How tall is Henry Cavill?  Ben Affleck towers over him in the movie posters, and so did Elizabeth Debicki.

 

If they do another one, I want to see April Dancer.

[SallyAlbright]

One of my biggest pet peeves is anachronistic hair.  And this movie, set in the early 60s, should not have had Napoleon Solo with hair hanging over his collar and his ears.  He should also probably have worn a hat, but this was the time period when men's hats were phasing out, so I'll let that one slide.

 

How tall is Henry Cavill?  Ben Affleck towers over him in the movie posters, and so did Elizabeth Debicki.

 

If they do another one, I want to see April Dancer.

Henry Cavill is actually 6'1". It just so happens that Ben Affleck is 6'4" and Elizabeth Debicki is 6'3". I think she's wonderful too, but I wonder if her height is actually a hindrance to her in Hollywood since she towers over so many leading men. Actually, she would look good paired with Armie Hammer (6'5"). 

 

As a whole, I thought the movie was really fun. Sure, I had little nitpicks here and there, but I thought Cavill and Hammer had good chemistry, and it was nice to see each of them get to have a little more fun than usual. I think they've both had a lot of criticism for being wooden in the past, but a lot of that has been the roles or films themselves and not necessarily their performances. I also have to add that I was surprisingly impressed with Hammer's Russian accent. I normally find it really distracting trying to listen to a "fake" accent, but I totally forgot he's American throughout the film. 

[JustaPerson]

The best part of the movie was when Solo and Ilya were arguing over what comprised a fashionable outfit for Gaby and women in general ("It won't match!" "It doesn't have to match!"). Armie Hammer and Alicia Vikander had very healthy chemistry and you could kind of see their characters relax around each other through their body language, which I really liked. By the time they killed Victoria's husband and reunited with Waverly, his whole body seemed to soften towards her.

 

I'm curious as to how did Armie Hammer's Russian stacked up to speakers of the language. I've heard my share of cringe worthy mandarin on tv and movies and I know Russian is a similarly hard language to convincingly do

[nilyank]

I really enjoyed it and thought the three main characters worked well together as a bunch of spies from different countries. What really worked for me was that both Solo and Illya were both able to show off their spy skills making them equally matched even if they were both different kinds of spies.

 

I wish the box office was better because I would really like to see a sequel and I want to see what develops betweens Illya and Gaby.

 

The overall film was very pleasing the eye. The main stars all looked gorgeous in the 60s outfits and background. And Henry and Armie were gorgeous throughout the film as was Alicia.

[ribboninthesky1]

I'm in for the sequel! If there is one! This might have been Cavill's "audition" for Bond, but I think I prefer him as Solo and would like to see more of his take on the character.  Presumably he can't be both around the same time, given how iconic Bond is. And I imagine he can't be Bond AND Superman, either. I have no knowledge of the TV show, but Cavill's take on Solo was borderline sociopathic, and it intrigued me. Then again, Cavill is my ultimate film eye candy at the moment, so bias and all that.     

 

I wasn't familiar with Armie Hammer's work before this film, and I think he did a pretty good job.  Maybe it's the conventional looks, but he wasn't as intimidating as the film tried to make him.  They kept alluding to how formidable he was, and yes, he's tall.  But it's not like he was Dolph Lundgren-lite or something. He's quite slim. Still, I liked the burgeoning Cavill/Hammer rapport, and actually prefer it to the Downey/Law dynamic in the Sherlock films.   

 

And while the women are clearly supporting characters in the film, I like that Gaby and Victoria were equally formidable, devious, intelligent, etc.  I hate that Debicki's character had to die - I would have liked to see her pop up in sequels, if only for a bit. Alicia Vikander was fine, though not particularly memorable.

[Spartan Girl]

I liked it too. My dad was mad because it wasn't like the TV show, but even he laughed at some parts.

The Napoleon/Illya bromance was the highlight, obviously. The part where they argue about fashion was hilarious as was the part when Napoleon slips out of the boat chase for an impromptu picnic in an empty car. LMAO!

And Henry Cavill....DAMN!!! The fact that he didn't get cast as James Bond when the filmmakers had the chance is a travesty.

Co-sign me to a sequel.

[Sandman]

Saw it tonight. I have happy, if somewhat vague, memories of the series in reruns when I was a kid, and I was entertained. It's a trifle, but buoyant, and kept aloft by the chemistry of its three leads; the pacing is appropriately snappy. The camera loves Vikander, Cavill and Hammer all equally well, that's for sure. The movie underlines a few things too heavily to make sure we get the point, notably the tracking of the villain's signal business near the end, but as Spartan Girl and others point out, the bromance between Ilya and Napoleon is the point (as it should be, I think). I liked Vikander more than Debicki, actually; Debicki was just too on-the-nose villainous, but at the same time I didn't really buy her as an Italian psycho. Well, I didn't buy that she was Italian.

 

I didn't really enjoy Guy Ritchie's version of Sherlock Holmes as a Victorian action hero (Wrought-Iron Man, haha) but I thought the 60s period was captured in a lighthearted and loving way.

 

How on earth does Hugh Grant end up with the one real clunker of a line? I wouldn't have expected his delivery to have come unsprung that badly.

 

Is Cavill too young for Bond?

 

ETA: I disagree about Kingsman: The Secret Service being the better tribute to 1960s spy movies. Kingsman plays with the spy movie tropes, but its irony is far more cynical, I thought. The message from the movie makers there is Oh, we're so much cooler and cleverer now, though, aren't we? Its over-the-top violence gave it a nasty tone, especially towards the end.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Sandman

[Ohwell]

I saw it today and I was very entertained.  I don't have too much more to add to the compliments for the movie, and I did like the chemistry between Solo and Ilya.  I remember watching the TV series but didn't remember how those two came together, so this movie was enlightening in that regard.  I had never seen Armie Hammer in anything that I can recall but I liked him as Ilya.  I was already in the tank for Henry Cavill so I couldn't take my eyes off him in this movie.  He is so damn gorgeous.  And built, too.  Now I'm torn because I would like to see a sequel but I also wanted to see him as James Bond.  However, assuming he can't do both, I would actually like to see him and Armie again in a sequel.  But if they don't do a sequel, then dammit, he'd better be Bond.

 

The only nitpick I had was the strange encounter with the female British spy (don't remember her name) and Ilya, when she was dancing (out of step with the music, btw) and wanted him to dance with her.  I didn't understand why she was slapping him around.  Did she consider that foreplay, or was she trying to show how tough she was?  I just didn't get it.  Plus, she knew he wasn't going to hit her back.  The only thing I know is that I don't like to see women hitting on men any more than the reverse.

 

Anyway, nitpick aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. 

 

I can understand the youngun's not seeing it because there wasn't enough loud music, or enough shit being blown up (not much of that, thank goodness), or loud special effects, or zombies or megatrons or whatever walking around.  I did not miss any of that stuff.

Edited August 22, 2015 by Ohwell

[Raja]

Anyway, nitpick aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

I can understand the youngun's not seeing it because there wasn't enough loud music, or enough shit being blown up (not much of that, thank goodness), or loud special effects, or zombies or megatrons or whatever walking around. I did not miss any of that stuff.

I think the promotion depended too much upon nostalgia and I am looking at 55 but remembering the name of the show I couldn't tell you anything about like I could Mission Impossible which had years of a head start as a movie franchise.

That said while the set pieces and stunts didn't match the IMF, I had bigger smile coming out of UNCLE and hope the box office is big enough that a chance of a franchise being built happens.

[Sweet Tee]

 

I didn't understand why she was slapping him around.  Did she consider that foreplay, or was she trying to show how tough she was?  I just didn't get it.

 

I think the idea was that she was just drunk.  I didn't get it either for a while.  It wasn't until she passed out on top of him that I realized she was supposed to be drunk. It was weird though.

[Llywela]

I remember watching the TV series but didn't remember how those two came together, so this movie was enlightening in that regard.

That's because the TV show never told us how they came together. It simply presented them as an established partnership.

[ribboninthesky1]

Once Gaby was revealed to be a British spy, her drunk scene made even less sense. There was a fair share of humor in the movie, and that scene was clearly supposed to be funny.  And...romantic, I think? Neither really landed for me.  

[Ohwell]

All I know is, I've been drunk and with a guy I really liked, and I've never wanted to slap him. 

 

That scene was just stupid.

[Rick Kitchen]

Don't forget that Gaby was a West German and Ilya was a Russian, not exactly the best of friends (except at the political level), plus the Russians were responsible for her father's disappearance.

[nilyank]

Also Gabby wasn't really as well trained or experienced as Solo and Ilya. She was recruited when her father was taken and she waited a few years working in the garage for the people who took her father to contact her.

[ribboninthesky1]

Don't forget that Gaby was a West German and Ilya was a Russian, not exactly the best of friends (except at the political level), plus the Russians were responsible for her father's disappearance.

 

All the more reason for Gaby to keep her wits about her, and not antagonize a man who could keep her from fulfilling her mission. 

[Rick Kitchen]

Oops, East German, I meant.

[Raja]

Oops, East German, I meant.

Berliner caught on the wrong side of the then new Berlin Wall

[Spiritinthesky]

I loved this is a kid, so looking forward to seeing this, why has it taken so long?

[absnow54]

I really enjoyed this movie and am sad that it is performing so poorly at the Box Office. I thought the cast was perfect and the chemistry between the three leads was great. I hope this gets enough word of mouth buzz to garner a sequel, but I'm not optimistic.

[Bruinsfan]

The only thing I didn't like about it was Ritchie's habit of showing the audience flashbacks of things we just saw five minutes ago, but that's easily forgivable for as fun a romp overall as the movie turned out to be.