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

Photo Courtesy from Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E, directed by Guy Ritchie, showcases a different take on spy films. This film stars, Henry Cavill as Solo, a criminal turned spy for the American government, Armie Hammer as a closed off Russian spy named Illya, and a mysterious character named Gaby who is played by Alicia Vikander. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is about an American man in the early ‘60’s, named Solo, who has to fill out his prison sentence as a government spy. Solo finds himself in Berlin, where he has to help Gaby, escape from East Berlin. There, he hits a speed bump and encounters a Russian spy named Illya who has orders to stop Solo from helping Gaby escape to West Berlin. The trio is forced together by their governments to stop the villain, Victoria, from creating nuclear weapons.

Spy films of today tend to lose the charm that was created by the earlier spy films of the ‘50s and ‘60s. Films now often to have darker cinematography, gritty fight scenes, and serious dialogue and because of this they lose the fun that this genre of film had in the past. Newer ones, like Skyfall, focus more on the aesthetic aspects and not enough of the fun, romantic elements that past films had created. With all of these aspects, the spy film becomes too complicated with too many layers, and the traditional spy film gets lost. However, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. revisits what it means to be a classical spy film and this may be due to its inspiration from the ‘60s of the same name. When dissecting this film, it has all the layers of the beloved original spy film: witty dialogue, smart action sequences paired with jazzy music and suave spies that audiences are drawn to.

This film was supposed to draw the attention of the older generation, as well as bring in a younger generation. However, because this wasn’t advertised well enough on social media, it was lost to the younger movie goers. This then caused the box office to take a tumble. The movie cost approximately $75 million to make, and to date has only grossed about $42 million. If this film was marketed as much as some of the other summer films, it could have been a hit among all audiences. Even though this wasn’t a major hit across theatres, money wise, don’t let this decide the value of the film for you.

Though this film doesn’t have the same complicated aspects as other spy films are doing today, that doesn’t mean that this film isn’t worth the audience’s time. The editor, James Herbert, gave this movie a new take on the older style. In the film, audiences can find the typical “spy bars” that separate the point of view of characters, and different action sequences. Editing the film in this way could have easily gone the cheesy route, but instead it was done in a way that was subtle and gave it an easy flow to it. Arguably, some critics would say this is a cheesy film, but they are probably comparing this to modern spy films, which are in their own kind of category and shouldn’t be lumped in with The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Though The Man from U.N.C.L.E only has a short amount of time left in theatres, that shouldn’t sway audiences from watching it when it hits digital streaming. It’s a great watch for everyone and will leave the audience laughing at the unlikely trio of spies. This film takes what many people loved about spy films from the past and writes one big love letter to them.