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

In the 1960s, the spy genre was a trope that was pretty common during this particular decade. More specifically, in the early 60s. This is most notably the case with the James Bond film series, and look how popular that franchise is. However, on television, the spy genre lent itself to many heart-pounding adventures. One series that used the spy genre well on television, is “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”, a show that pitted American and Russian spies during the Cold War in thrilling adventures of espionage. The movie adaptation of this show is a mediocre spy flick, at best. While the movie isn't bad, it's also not good; somewhere in-between. “The Man from U.N.C.L.E” is a formulaic spy movie that does offer some action, but heavy on the technical babble.

The story has two spies: one American, and one Russian trying to stop a nuclear warhead from launching. These two spies are Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) from America, and Illya Kuryakin (Arnie Hammer) from Russia. Together, along with a beautiful woman named Gabby (Alicia Vikander), the two must work together if peace is going to settle down between these two nations.

On the surface, “The Man from U.N.C.L.E” looks promising enough to be a good spy movie set during the 1960s. The movie looks good, as the costumes and setting fit the time period very well. The women have a nice sense of color, and the men have elegant suits that fit them well.

There is a sense of mystery, making the viewer want to know more about what is going to happen. It does keep the audience invested in what's going on.

The cast does a good job in their specific roles, and the chemistry between Cavill and Hammer is pretty decent. In fact, these two specific actors have chosen what could be considered one of their best role yet.

Guy Ritchie, who directed the movie, also does a good job at setting balance between action segments, and talking. During some of the more intense moments, the whole film acts like a comic book of sorts, and it really grabs the viewer's attention of what is going on from different angles.

Finally, the music is a great combination of popular tunes from the time period, as well as providing a cool and synthetic score with hints of what the TV show had.

However, that's not to say the film has problems. For one thing, while the story is easy to follow, it can get predictable at certain points in the movie. It seems like there is a lot of talking and a lot of predicting of what's going to happen next. This is mostly from the character of Solo, and it kind of loses the “ah ha” reaction from audiences. This can lead into the next complaint.

For a spy flick, there's very little action happening on the screen, making the viewer wanting more. As stated before, this is mostly attributed to the fact that there is a lot of talking going, which can be a little distracting from what we are expecting.

Another problem is that a lot of the characters that are introduced, really don't have that much of a connection. Outside of Solo and Kuryakin, most of the characters that are in this movie, really don't have that much of a purpose other than being part of the plot.

In conclusion‚ while “The Man from U.N.C.L.E” isn't necessarily bad per se, it comes off being a little disappointing when compared with other spy movies that are out there. The TV series of the same name would be more entertaining than this movie.