If you're looking for a cool spy thriller from the sixties to enjoy, check out writer/director Guy Ritchie's modern take on the 60's in THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
Henry Cavill (Man of Steel) is perfectly cast as Napoleon Solo, a war hero who delved into art and antiquity theft after WWII who finds himself recruited by the American Government as a secret agent. Solo has become the best of the best.
His current assignment has him rescuing the daughter of a top nuclear scientist from behind the Berlin Wall in the 1960's.
Gaby (Alicia Vikander) hasn't seen her father in years, but she becomes a hot property for spies of all nations when she becomes a valuable bargaining tool for the scientist's services in developing an atomic weapon.
On the opposite side of Solo is his equivalent agent in the KGB, Illya Kuryakin, played here by a tough & funny Arnie Hammer.
Hammer and Cavill's chemistry as they are forced by their respective governments to partner up on their next mission is hilarious and tons of fun to watch.
Luckily, Vikander continues her hot streak on film, following up "Ex Machina" with a great turn as the perfect 1960's heroine, decked out in the highest priced fashions of the early 60's.
Guy Ritchie can be hit or miss for me. The first Sherlock Holmes film was all frenetic energy and no story for me, but the sequel was better. 'Snatch" is a great movie.
Here, he is having plenty of fun working with great source material. The quick cuts, multi-screen action and swirling camera you expect from Ritchie is here throughout, but works very well with the spy genre.
Hugh Grant is cast well against the norm here and is having fun, as is Elizabeth Debicki, a newcomer for me but damn near perfect as the villain of the story.
Set design, music score and photography are all first-rate.
Filled with energy, some strong action sequences and plenty of laughs, Cavill and Hammer deliver the goods and get UNCLE a B.
