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

Pip Gamble, Staff Editor

The Man From U.N.C.L.E is a smart, fun action comedy based off of the 1964 television series of the same name. Director Guy Richie replaced its dated plot with an effortlessly cool 21st century blockbuster.

The movie is set in the early 1960s at the height of the cold war were a criminal organization sets plans to use a nuclear bomb to tip the delicate balance between America and Russia. CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill), and KGB agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer), work together to recover the bomb. With the help of German mechanic and daughter of Nazi scientist Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander), the three of them travel under cover around Europe to save the world from nuclear destruction.

Adapting a spy-fi TV series into a film is risky, especially when similar movies like James Bond and Mission Impossible franchises that are in theaters. But somehow this quirky movie seemed to beat the odds. The high class, Italian fashion will transport you back to the 1960s and wishing you could live in that time.

Not only does the fashion enhance your viewing experience but the use of camera angles and techniques does as well. I do not know a lot about directing a film, but I think that Richie did a very good job. He uses the classic split screen technique during fights scenes to limit the amount of violence the audience sees. The movie is full of high speed car chases through the narrow streets of Italy, filmed in such a way that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.

Many character in the movie had different accents like Russian or American that were foreign to the actor who portrayed them. Each accent was seemingly perfect. No character in this movie fell flat and no characters overpowered the other. Cavill and Hammer’s characters relationship in the movie is slightly dysfunctional but results in tongue and cheek humor as a cherry on top of what is a brilliant movie.

It is rated PG-13 so the whole family can go and enjoy it. The Man From U.N.C.L.E is a film that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good laugh or heart stopping action. It is film that I would go see again.

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