Review of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) by Justin G — 09 Jul 2017

2015 was a fantastic year for spy films as we got Bond´s 24th official film adventure "Spectre", the spy comedy aptly named "Spy", the stylish Bond wannabe "Kingsman" and the surprisingly good and exciting "Mission Impossible Rouge Nation". However, another spy film arrived that year but unlike the others it was a box office bomb: Guy Ritchie´s overlooked "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.".

Set in the 1963, CIA agent Napoleon Solo is forced to work with KGB Ilya Kuryakin in order to stop some Nazi Remnants from building a new nuclear weapon.

Throughout his career Guy Ritchie has shown that he works best with small budgets and that his overproduced style is limited to gangster-esque stories, however despite those limitations, that style has been imitated to death in last two decades (particularly by his ex-producer Matthew Vaugh) but Ritchie shows that he can still show craftsmanship and create a stylish spectacle with this spy film. As with any spy film, "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." is not about its convoluted plot but about directing, characters, action, dialog and spectacle, and it succeeds in all of them. The action sequences are what you would expect from Ritchie at his best -fast pacing, fantastic use of music, some physical comedy and larger than life stunts-, the characters are serviceable with Cavil being the most fun to watch due to his Sean Connery Bond performance, the dialog is straight out of the Roger Moore (R.I.P) era Bond, most of the comedy is actually funny, Ritchie´s overproduced direction works so well with this source material as he manages to pay homage to the 60´s style of filmmaking without sacrificing either his style or the entertainment value, and overall it doesn´t overstays its welcome.

"The Man from U.N.C.L.E." is a well-made, exciting and extremely enjoyable blockbuster that sadly didn´t get the attention it deserved. Out of all the spy movies 2015 gave us I dare to say this is the best one as it manages to hold up on its own instead of relying on the Bond formula (I´m looking at you "Kingsman"). If you enjoy Guy Ritchie I´m happy to report that this is Ritchie´s best film since "Snatch".