Movie of the Week: Man from UNCLE

[jacey]

Despite a bad review from a friend whose opinion on movies I value, I enjoyed this much more than I expected to. It's true it bears next to no relationship with the original TV series other than the names Illya Kuryakin and Napoleon Solo, but it's a fun romp for all that. It is what it is, and I guess it would be unfair to review it in the light of what it is not. Yes, I fall into the camp of 'Wouldn't it have been nice if they'd asked David McCallum to play Mr. Waverly?" but they didn't and that's that.

So this is an origin story as Solo, ex thief and con-man now working for America rather than wasting his talents in jail, is forced to work with Kuryakin, fearsome Russian agent with a slightly loose screw. It's set in the 1960s (and captures the era reasonably well).It's the height of the Cold War. A mysterious criminal organization plans to use nuclear weapons to destroy the fragile relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union. The pair have to find a missing German scientist, and their only lead is his beautiful and resourceful daughter (Alicia Vikander).

U.N.C.L.E. isn't mentioned until the end when Mr. Waverly (Hugh Grant) finally makes his presence felt.

Henry Cavill plays Solo and Armie Hammer is Illya Kuryakin. One thing which does mirror the original show is that Kuryakin is a much more interesting character than Solo and Armie Hammer plays this version of Kuryakin to perfection. The story is pretty unremarkable, but in part it's balanced by the over-the-top set-pieces and underlying tongue-in-cheek humour

Comments

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you liked it. It did look fun from the trailer and I really really wanted to go and see it (I am something of a Man From U.N.C.L.E. completeist) but the summer was eaten up by proofreading and testing the 500 page Java programming book that G wrote for his students. I had hoped that it was still on at the multiplex in Llandudno, but when I looked it wasn't.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure it will appear on TV sooner or later (probably sooner), though if you're a big fan of the TV series this may not work for you. It's very different and doesn't even really pay homage to the original. Though I must admit I was a bu TV UNCLE fan and I liked this well enough. I just had to keep reminding myself not to expect David McCallum (always my favourite) to appear.