The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Based on the 1960s television series, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. follows CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) as they reluctantly team up to stop a mysterious criminal organization from distributing nuclear weapons. It’s actually quite remarkable just how entertaining and compelling The Man from U.N.C.L.E. remains for much of its running time, as filmmaker Guy Ritchie doesn’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to big-budget, over-the-top extravaganzas – with the movie, unlike Sherlock Holmes and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, taking the time to establish the central characters and scenario in which they find themselves. It’s clear, then, that the film benefits substantially from the strong work by leads Cavill and Hammer, as both actors deliver engaging, charismatic work that’s heightened by the genuine chemistry between their respective characters (ie the film certainly succeeds as one of the better and more memorable buddy comedies as of late). Ritche and cowriter Lionel Wigram deliver a narrative that contains a solid balance of exposition, action, and even romance (stemming from the budding relationship between Hammer’s Kuryakin and Alicia Vikander’s Gaby Teller), and although the movie is predictably just a little too long (eg 116 minutes is probably a little excessive for a story like this), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. remains a cut above most similarly-themed blockbusters and it’s ultimately a shame that the film underperformed at the box office (ie if ever there was a movie crying out for an ongoing series, it’s this one).

*** out of ****