The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
29/08/15 Filed in: Cinema
Following on last week's Mission Impossible saga this week we saw The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Both are arguably of the same genre, so it made for interesting comparisons.
My immediate reaction was to think that Henry Cavill, who plays Napoleon Solo, would make a superb James Bond. I suppose my idea of Bond is heavily influenced by the Sean Connery years, and Cavill has that same suave persona and the ability to inject comedy into what is supposed to be serious stuff. Meanwhile Armie Hammer completely recasts Illya Kuryakin as a KGB superman [David McCullem as the original Kuryakin wasn't anything like this!]. He also adds to the humorous side of this production. Meanwhile, Alicia Vikander provides one half of the glamour content as Gabby Teller, daughter of a missing German scientist.
The film actually leads up to the coming together of the trio as a team, as they're certainly not buddies at the beginning. I guess, therefore, that we're in for at least one more instalment, perhaps more.
My immediate reaction was to think that Henry Cavill, who plays Napoleon Solo, would make a superb James Bond. I suppose my idea of Bond is heavily influenced by the Sean Connery years, and Cavill has that same suave persona and the ability to inject comedy into what is supposed to be serious stuff. Meanwhile Armie Hammer completely recasts Illya Kuryakin as a KGB superman [David McCullem as the original Kuryakin wasn't anything like this!]. He also adds to the humorous side of this production. Meanwhile, Alicia Vikander provides one half of the glamour content as Gabby Teller, daughter of a missing German scientist.
The film actually leads up to the coming together of the trio as a team, as they're certainly not buddies at the beginning. I guess, therefore, that we're in for at least one more instalment, perhaps more.
It is set in the 60s at the height of the Cold War, when spies from each side were involved in a game of one-upmanship. However, in this case the adversaries get together to take on an even greater threat. As you may have guessed, a nuclear weapon is involved [as is Gabby's dad], and a great deal of action takes place in furtherance of stopping a worldwide catastrophe. The 'bad guy' in this case is a woman, Victoria Vinciguerra played by Elizabeth Debicki, the other half of the glamour content.
I think one must say that this film, as an 'action movie', actually succeeds more because of the humour than the action. There are some lovely little scenes, such as where Kuryakin expertly selects clothes for Gabby, who is to play the role of his fiancée as part of their attempts to infiltrate the criminals. And all those jokes about the superiority of American technology in those days are stood on their head when Kuryakin produces a miniature laser cutter [almost certainly technically impossible in the 60s - and possibly still so] to upstage Solo's tempered steel wire cutters.
It's good fun and I would certainly go to see a sequel - or should I say the sequel, as I'm sure that there will be one.
I think one must say that this film, as an 'action movie', actually succeeds more because of the humour than the action. There are some lovely little scenes, such as where Kuryakin expertly selects clothes for Gabby, who is to play the role of his fiancée as part of their attempts to infiltrate the criminals. And all those jokes about the superiority of American technology in those days are stood on their head when Kuryakin produces a miniature laser cutter [almost certainly technically impossible in the 60s - and possibly still so] to upstage Solo's tempered steel wire cutters.
It's good fun and I would certainly go to see a sequel - or should I say the sequel, as I'm sure that there will be one.