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THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. (2015) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

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THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.(2015) movie

Genre | Spy-Fi Thriller

Classification | M

Running time | 116 minutes

Released | 13 August 2015

cast

Henry Cavill ... Solo
Armie Hammer ... Illya
Alicia Vikander ... Gaby
Elizabeth Debicki ... Victoria
Luca Calvani ... Alexander
Sylvester Groth ... Uncle Rudi
Hugh Grant ... Waverly
Jared Harris ... Sanders

director

Guy Ritchie

writer

Guy Ritchie ... (screenplay by) &
Lionel Wigram ... (screenplay by)

Jeff Kleeman ... (story by) &
David C. Wilson ... (story by) (as David Campbell Wilson) and
Guy Ritchie ... (story by) &
Lionel Wigram ... (story by)

Sam Rolfe ... (based on the television series created by)

cinematographer

John Mathieson

music

Daniel Pemberton

film editor

James Herbert

box office result

Worldwide $109,845,109

Australia $3,236,386

North America $45,445,109

the best dialogue

Napoleon Solo: [to his driver] Are they still following us?... Is there one of them?... Is he looking at us?... Does he have just one hand on the steering wheel?... When you hear something that sounds like a gunshot, drive.

[cue car chase]

Napoleon Solo: You told me this was going to be a simple extraction.
Sanders: It should have been. I didn't ask you to light up half of East Berlin.
Napoleon Solo: They were waiting for me.
Sanders: Don't flatter yourself, they follow everybody.
Napoleon Solo: One of them who was waiting for me was barely human. You should've seen him run.
Sanders: Grow a spine, Solo. Contrary to what you think, we are not in with the haberdashery business.
Napoleon Solo: I don't think you understand. He tore the back off my car.
Sanders: Remind me, Solo, how long was your prison sentence. You owe me five more years. Now, I know that you've been taking care of yourself on the side. Wetting your beak, so to speak. We don't pay you enough to be able to put truffles in your rizzoto, Solo. But don't ever make the calamitous error of mistaking my deliberate short sightedness for blindness. Now you'll report for duty tomorrow morning nine a.m. sharp. And with a better attitude.

Napoleon Solo: [to Victoria over ship-to-ship radio] That warhead, although not nuclear, shouldn't have any trouble obliterating a medium-sized fishing boat. The aforementioned warhead launched... 45 seconds ago. Giving you about 30 seconds until impact.
[her crew jumping the ocean]
Napoleon Solo: It won't trigger a nuclear warhead, as that requires fission. So, if you do want to make good on your vow, I suggestion you abandon ship immediately.

Napoleon Solo: [massive explosion] How's *that* for entertainment?

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. (2015) MOVIE IMAGES

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THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. (2015) STORY SYNOPSIS

At the height of the Cold War, a mysterious criminal organization plans to use nuclear weapons and technology to upset the fragile balance of power between the United States and Soviet Union. CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and KGB agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) are forced to put aside their hostilities and work together to stop the evildoers in their tracks. The duo's only lead is the daughter of a missing German scientist, whom they must find soon to prevent a global catastrophe.

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. (2015) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty | Review date 11 August 2015
Pop Movee Rating ⭐⭐⭐½

Guy Ritchie’s latest feature film takes a 1960s Spy-Fi television show and delivers viewers a slick, entertaining adventure that is one of the better all-round pieces of entertainment to hit cinema screens in 2015. The stand-out element of THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.’s production is its teaming of two up and coming movie stars as frenemies forced to work together. Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer deliver among their best performances to date as Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuryakin; the CIA operative and KGB Agent forced to work together during the height of the Cold War to save the world from villains not prepared to work within the established geopolitical boundaries. Cavill and Hammer receive impressive support all-round; especially from Alicia Vikander, who confirms in this outing that she is also - well and truly - a star on the rise.

For the younger viewers in the audience, the film opens with a brief montage of shots explaining how the Cold War came about in the aftermath of World War II and then segues to the absolute epicentre of the clash between West and East for the next 40 plus years: Berlin. Cavill’s Napoleon Solo takes on a daring mission to pluck Vikander’s Gaby from behind the “Iron Curtain” in an effort to learn the whereabouts of her father, noted Nuclear Physicist Udo Teller (Christian Berkel). Solo’s extraction of the younger Teller from East Berlin is nearly thwarted by KGB Super-Agent Kuryakin, whose size and strength almost flummox the unflummoxable Solo. In an ironic twist, both men’s superiors reveal to them the following morning that they must work together to prevent the elder Teller’s work from falling into the hands of rogue Nazis, determined to keep alive their dream of a new world order.

The action moves to Rome, where Kuryakin and Gabby are thrust together as a would-be newly-engaged couple, while Solo goes undercover as an Antiquities Dealer with an incredibly deft touch. The trio attempt to uncover the nefarious activities of the Vinciguerra family, whose husband and wife team of Alexander (Luca Calvani) and Victoria (Elizabeth Debicki) are the prime targets of the trio’s scrutiny. Kuryakin and Solo must defer to Gabby in their efforts, as her Uncle Rudi (Sylvester Groth) works for the Vinciguerra’s and her family ties are the only thing preventing a nuclear warhead falling into the wrong hands. The plot starts to become more complicated at the point where the trio attend a party thrown by the Vinciguerra's and it becomes clear that there's machinations within machinations going on between both the good guys and the bad guys!

While the plot is an essential part of this film, it’s almost redundant in terms of the viewer’s enjoyment of THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. Each scene within each sequence is so well executed that it’s almost a shame to move onto the next one. Ritchie and script writer Lionel Wigram strike a great balance between the key elements that make a great Spy-Fi adventure. Their film is sly, sexy and darkly funny in parts; yet it is anchored to a solid (if clichéd) premise of the world as we know in great peril, even if the man-on-the-street is blindly unaware of the danger. Ritchie also scores well in the physical production stakes with Gladiator Cinematographer John Mathieson lensing the film and his Sherlock Holmes Film Editor James Herbert splicing the action together in the style in which the Director’s fans have become accustomed.

Besides Cavill, Hammer and Vikander, the rest of the cast are as equally adept at picking up the tone of the story and running with it. Hugh Grant as Waverly brings a charming priggishness to proceedings and Elizabeth Debicki, as Victoria Vinciguerra, delivers a bitchy sexuality to her role that helps bring the film to its finale. Among the other supporting players, Jared Harris delivers another gravelly-voiced, don’t-screw-with-me performance as Solo’s CIA handler Sanders, while Sylvester Groth does some scene-stealing late in the film as Uncle Rudi turns out to be quite the madman. Although not an ensemble film, The Man From U.N.C.L.E definitely benefits from the broadly-talented cast that Ritchie has brought together for the film. In one way or another they all deliver over-and-above moments that help lift the film into above average entertainment.

2015 has proved to be a fickle year at the U.S. Box Office and Warner Bros, the film’s distributor, will be hoping that THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. performs along similar lines to MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE ROGUE NATION and KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE in order to justify its investment into both this first entry and any subsequent entries that are being planned. While the cast are great, there are no genuine stars to drive the film’s international performance, so it will be viewer’s faith in Guy Ritchie’s name being attached to the project that will help convince audiences to part with their hard earned cash to have a look at this film. Once their bum’s on the cinema seat, there’s no doubt they’ll be entertained and word-of-mouth should carry the film to success. It certainly deserves it, as THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. is exactly the sort of film that makes it worthwhile dedicating two hours of your life to a big dark room with an equally big bright screen!