Man from UNCLE

[cinemabon]

Spoilers - don't read unless you've seen the film or you just don't care.

As Hollywood rehashes old plots from previously made movies for profit, it's also desperately grabbed thinly veiled origins from comic books and blown them into two hour special effect displays. All of these money makers - old movies, serials, and comic books - have proved profitable to the Hollywood formula.

With the success of James Bond' last incarnation - Skyfall - Hollywood has once again exploited the spy-thriller genre with "Kingsman" and the humorous "Spy" this year along with Guy Ritchie's latest effort, "Man from UNCLE." The plot - loosely borrowed from the 1960's television show of the same name - has Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin fit side by side to defeat the evil villains of the world. Director Ritchie, who until now is known mostly for his modern takes on Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey, Jr., helms another remake. This time Ritchie has added a few homages to his directorial past by winking at the likes of Sergio Leone and his musical master Ennio Morricone. "Good, bad, and Ugly" Morricone's music is showing up recently in beer commercials and other venues without much credit. However, Ritchie clearly tips his hat more than once during "UNCLE" in a variety of ways to the master of the spaghetti western with little musical cues and proverbial nods to the fourth wall in the way Eastwood did. This gives what could be a formula film more of a kick and less predictability (though knowing they've all been signed for the sequel does spoil it). "UNCLE" never takes itself too seriously. We're never given much in the way of character depth. Solo waltzes his way through crowds like someone searching for an exit rather than a purpose for being there. Kuryakin constantly frowns in every take, giving us the impression he's either upset with the world or he needs a good bowel movement. Either way, this is not the stuff of great acting; this is an action movie with thrills, chills, and spills.

The movie adaptation of the television show has a few twists. Solo turns out to be another Al Bundy (It take a thief), having stolen from art collectors for years during the post war era. Solo enjoys an upper-class lifestyle. Henry Cavill best known for his role as Superman plays the suave and debonair playboy who also happens to carry a gun, is an acrobat, and an expert in fighting. The film opens with a long drawn out montage to the late cold war with visuals that include Kennedy and Khrushchev verbal battles in the press. It's the same old story of an enemy making a thermonuclear device that will wipe out the good people of America and/or Europe. Forced to work together, Solo and Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) end up admiring one another (of course they do) while involving spy-moll Gaby (Alicia Vikander). They've even resurrected Mr. Waverly, simply known here as Waverly, and given the part to, of all people, Hugh Grant (the one bad casting mistake). They become the agents from United Network Command for Law and Enforcement. Ta-da! A new spy series is born. So now we have "Spy" and its success for McCarthy. We have "Kingsman" and its success for Taron Egerton. And we have "UNCLE" that will certainly spawn sequels for its stars.

Who said the spy genre was all washed out? Move over James Bond and Jason Bourne. There are new kids on the block.

[Chris Knipp]

How would you know, but tabuno and I had an exchange about this movie on the Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation thread here. (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?4020-MISSION-IMPOSSIBLE-ROGUE-NATION-(Christopher-McQuarrie-2015)&p=33794#post33794) Here's my last comment; I'm omitting the one about Shaun the Sheep. I could not offer your learned comments on origins and attributions of the new Man from U.N.C.L.E., but I had favorable things to say, though I still have to go back and watch the second half of it. The question remains: is this as much inferior to Rogue Nation as the critics collectively seem to think? Or if not, why do they rate it so far below, Man from U.N.C.L., Metacritic 55%; Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Metacritic 75? I found U.N.C.L.E. very pleasing from a mise-en-scène/sets/costumes/period flavor point of view, visually, a delight to my aesthetic sense. And of course along with that, the general lightheartedness. Not sure how tips of the hat to spaghetti westerns would give the movie "more of a kick and less predictability." Maybe less character development would be a significant shortcoming. Certainly Guy Ritchie is very different here from the way he was in Lock, Stock, and Two Loaded Barrels and his Sherlock Holmes movie, and in a good way. But perhaps that just means he has no style, and never really did. I did not have your problem with Kornyakin, i.e. Ilya, i.e. Armie Hammer, nor did I think of his digestive needs. I liked his approximation of a Russian voice and accent. Obviously fake, of course, but well done nonetheless. Hugh Grant's role is quite minor; is his casting really a blemish? His elegant RP (posh) English accent adds to the stylishness, I'd have thought. I would really like to see Man from U.N.C.L.E. again, in toto, but I've been busy with Best of Enemies (about the clash between William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal and Francois Ozon's new, coming The New Girlfriend/Ma nouvelle amie.

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

Tabuno,
I've seen most of the new Man from U.N.C.L.E. and I agree, it is very good entertainment, more fun than the new Mission Impossible. I loved the three main actors; Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, and Alicia Vikander: they're great looking. I never knew the impressively tall Armie could be this good an actor. And the Sixties costumes and mise-en-scène were ceaseless eye-candy. Every glimpse of cars was an aesthetic pleasure for me; I love the coachwork of the Fifties and Sixties. What's wrong with this movie, then? I don't know, but perhaps critics thought it had too little that was new.

http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/uncle.jpg

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[Chris Knipp]

http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/u.n.c.jpg

Went back and watched the whole thing -- in I Max. I do love the look of it and the looks and clothes of the principals. Wish there had been more fab Sixties sports cars -- and less torture. Torture is a drag, and does not add to the fun element of a lighthearted period action movie. As Anthony Lane says in The New Yorker, "Offensiveness of the kind rarely scarred the charm of the television show." He thinks Cavell skirts the line "between phlegmatic suavity and downright dullness." The fact remains that this is a visual and tongue-in-cheek period delight, even if the Sixties stuff seems "bought rather than lived-in". When Lane objects to the way the elaborate split-screen effects blur the details of the island lair siege he's missing the point: it's pure ballet, and a delight, again, to the eye.

[cinemabon]

I couldn't tell if the film was entirely tongue in cheek or not. As a result, I found the end product confusing. One the one hand, I've been a loyal Bond fan from the start. Roger Moore almost killed the franchise and Pierce Brosnan arrived too late with too little. Only Sean had the manly chops to pull off Bond. Hence, his movies get played over and over while everyone passes on Moore. During that initial era, we had several spy spinoffs - James Coburn as Flint; Dean Martin as Matt Helm; Patrick McGoohan as Secret Agent man; Robert Culp in I, Spy; Roger Moore started out as The Saint! Everywhere you looked, someone was trying to copy the success Cubby Broccoli created with the Bond films. We went through a period where spy movies became passe. Richard Burton's "The Spy who came in from the cold" flopped and Roger Moore ran the Bond series right into the ground.

Two things saved the genre - Jason Bourne and a manly Bond. With the rise of Jason Bourne, we got movies like "Tinker, Tailor..." I loved both incarnations but gravitate toward the recent film version. And let's discuss Matt Damon! He brought energy to his super-spy role that made everyone sit up, including those who inherited the Bond series (ie, Michael Willson). When Daniel Craig became Bond, they went back to the roots and brought back the very first Bond novel (never brought to the screen). That other adaptation being in name only. With the biggest box office yet in "Skyfall" that opened the floodgates. It even revitalized Mission Impossible (also a TV show from the 1960's). Now it was cool to be a spy. However, the formula - no matter how hip the clothes, cars, girls and gadgets are - has become overplayed. One of the things I found appealing with "Kingsman" is that it poked fun of the whole genre. However in "UNCLE" we're scratching our heads and wondering, "Is this a parody or is it trying to play it real in its time?" Mike Meyers made the ultimate Bond parody with his Austin Powers films. "UNCLE" can't seem to make up its mind. It's an entertainment that has some great scenes. But "Kingsman" did the whole spy versus the mad scientist thing and played it to the hilt. Ritchie's movie is all over the place. The Berlin Wall was a serious thing. You couldn't just vault over it. They had guard towers everywhere. Hundreds were killed trying to cross in the first few years. Then there's the gadgets - either you're true to the period or you slip into Derek Flint with stuff that didn't exist at the time.

Don't get me too wrong. I enjoyed "UNCLE." Not as much as I enjoyed "Kingsman" and McCarthy's "Spy" this year because they were fun. Where was the fun when you had a Nazi war criminal show actual pictures from concentration camps regarding his experiments. Nothing funny there. But two minutes later, they're torching the guy. Ok, it's funny again. For a few precarious minutes, we weren't sure. Does that add to the screen tension? Or does it serve to confuse the director's intent? That back and forth took some of the joy out of the picture and made it "ok" for me. Not bad. Just not great.

[Chris Knipp]

You are exactly right, and Anthony Lane notes this in his review: the Nazi war criminal is a horrible shift in tone, and the fun vanishes in the second half. Going back and watching the whole movie revealed that as a whole it's not a success. Guy Ritchie. I"ve never really been a fan of is directing. This time I do enjoy the first half, and the visual tricks and Sixties style references, costumes, cars, etc. throughout. And Cavell, Hammer, and Vikander.

You might enjoy a new intervview with Tarantino in ]New York Magazine (http://www.vulture.com/2015/08/quentin-tarantino-lane-brown-in-conversation.html)-- I did. He mentions Kingssman as one of two recent favorites, with It Follows. Kingsman is pretty violent too though. But no gruesome torture shots. I think Spy stands out beyond Kingsman, due largely to the skill and personality of Melissa McCarthy.

I'd agree on Jason Bourne reviving the spy genre. However I'd qualify that while Burton in The Spy Came in from the Cold may have flopped, John Le Carré is still the greatest spy novelist of the last thirty years, and the British TV adaptatons of his work with Alec Guinness are classic as I'm sure you know.

[Johann]

Great stuff Gents.

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks, Johann.

[cinemabon]

Interesting comments today in the Guardian. Pierce Brosnan said James Bond would never be gay as long as Barbara Broccoli produced the James Bond franchise. In his interview, he said (paraphrase) "I'd look for a good black actor to play Bond before they allow a gay version of Bond." The question came up when the interviewer discussed the scene in "Skyfall" where Bond hinted it wouldn't be his first time at a gay experience. When they put the same question to Daniel Craig, he said, "I think he (Javier) was just fucking with his head. I doubt either man had a bisexual experience."

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/aug/26/pierce-brosnan-james-bond-wouldnt-be-allowed-to-be-gay-while-barbara-broccoli-alive

The new Bond is set for this Christmas season. Happy hunting, James.

[Chris Knipp]

The Skyfall 'gay scene' was just another chance for mainstream retro homophobia, but certainly didn't reflect on the suerp-straightness of James Bond.

The trailer for the new film (http://www.007.com/new-spectre-trailer-released/) is already being shown in blockbuster auditoriums everywhere. I saw it in IMax before wading through the entire Man from U.N.C.L.E. Same director, who also did Jarhead and American Beauty as well as the last Bond. It's nice that this one has Ralp;h Fiennes and Ben Whishaw is back, plus Christoph Waltz and Léa Seydoux. But where is Judy Dench? At a retirement hotel in India with Dev Patel and Maggie Smith?

[cinemabon]

Poor Judy lost her position due to bad agents - killed off in the last plot, I'm afraid.

[Chris Knipp]

Bad agents is speculation, isn't it? It seems general schemes led to eliminating her character. But it is sad, and was indeed for Judi herself, apparently, as per this article in the London Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/dame-judi-dench-cried-after-hearing-her-bond-character-m-was-to-be-killed-off-9911200.html) of Tuesday 09 December 2014:

Dame Judi Dench cried after hearing Bond character M was to be killed off
The actress said her husband initially encouraged her to take the role because he wanted to say he lived with a Bond woman
_______________________________

Dame Judi Dench has revealed she cried when Bond producers told her that M was being killed off.

The veteran actress played the MI6 chief in seven Bond films but her character met her demise in Skyfall in 2012.

She said she “laughed through her tears” when Bond producers told her the news over lunch in London.

“They told me gently and I laughed through my tears. Seven [Bond] films is a long time. But MI6 would have given her the push by now, don't you think?”, she told Radio Times magazine.

The actress, who turns 80 today, said that her late husband, actor Michael Williams, encouraged her to sign up for the Bond films.

[cinemabon]

I should have added (tic - tongue in cheek); or as the Brit's like to say, "Cheeky."

At the end of "Skyfall," they re-established the traditional roles of M (Ralph Fiennes), Moneypenny(Naomie Harris) and Q (for Quartermaster - Ben Whishaw).