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

Lucas Versantvoort / 29 Sep 2015

From the moment you hear Guy Ritchie, the man who gave us such fare as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, is reviving The Man from U.N.C.L.E., a swinging sixties spy series, you kind of know what to expect. Reviving such a show today already ensures a sufficient amount of tongue-in-cheek material, so Ritchie's style easily blends in. The result is a mostly entertaining ride that's only hampered by the occasionally dull comedy.

The year is 1963. CIA operative Napoleon Solo travels beyond the Wall in Berlin to extract Gaby Teller, a woman working in a chop shop. Her father's being forced to build an atom bomb for the Nazi’s, so Solo wants her to set up a meeting with her uncle who will in turn lead them to her father. They escape, but not without heavy resistance from Illya Kuryakin, a KGB operative. The next day, both their bosses inform Solo and Kuryakin they are to cooperate on the same mission. They'll go to Rome where Solo will pose as an antiquities dealer and Kuryakin will pose as Gaby's fiancé. They've a hunch the place where Gaby's uncle Rudy works is most likely a front for the Nazi’s, so that's their way in. 

The sense of style and action is wonderfully stylized and easily the most memorable aspect of the production. From the opening car chase to the KGB-patented bitch slap Kuryakin employs to knock out a guard while keeping him standing perfectly still, it's all quite exhilarating and funny. 

Speaking of stylized, the score by Daniel Pemberton enhances every scene it's played in. Whether it's Morricone-inspired action music or jazzy interludes, it always made me swoon and bob along. While these kinds of pastiche scores are not exactly new, Pemberton's score features the best kind of pastiche, because it still feels like I'm hearing Pemberton and not just a collage of cheap references.

There are a couple of downsides: some of the attempts at verbal humor (one-liners, etc.) don't generate the laughter it feels like they should. Also, the film has a few too many false finishes. You've got this exciting infiltration mission and you think it's over. Oh wait, there's an even more exciting chase scene incoming. Well okay, I'm up for that, but then it's over right? No, after all that excitement, let's kill the bad guy/gal with a short scene featuring basically nothing but talking. Ritchie tries to compensate the lack of action with some great editing, but it's no use. The film's lost momentum. It's just one climax too many.

As far as modern action films go, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. feels complete in that it's got the full package: a decent, spy-ish narrative with a few twists and style to spare and that's not even mentioning that music. I  wouldn't know whether it's a faithful re-imagining, but it's a fun watch nonetheless.