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

Hollywood has a fascination with espionage films, so much so, that if I had a buck for every espionage film I've seen in my life, I'd be incredibly rich. Mind you, I'm not complaining, it's just that so-o many movies have been produced in the name of 'spy flicks'. Maybe it's the audience's fascination and Hollywood is merely cashing in on people's obsession with this genre, but whatever it is, Hollywood has sprung another one of these films our way and that film is "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.".

This takes a fresh look at the hugely popular 1960's TV series. Set against the backdrop of the early 1960's, at the height of the Cold War, this film centers on CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer). Forced to put aside longstanding hostilities, the two reluctantly team up on a joint mission to stop a mysterious international criminal organization, which is bent on destabilizing the fragile balance of power through the proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology. The duo's only lead is the daughter, Gaby (Alicia Vikander) of a vanished German scientist, who is the key to infiltrating the criminal organization, and they must race against time to find him and prevent a worldwide catastrophe.

Others to round out the cast are Elizabeth Debicki as Victoria and Luca Calvani as Alexander, the one's leading the secret criminal organization, Sylvester Groth as Uncle Rudi, Gaby's uncle, Hugh Grant as Alexander Wavery, Napoleon and Illya's boss, Jared Harris as Sanders, the one who gave Napoleon and Illya's assignment, Christian Berkel as Udo, Misha Kuznetsov as Oleg and Guy Williams as Captain Smith.

This was directed with style, slickness, finesse and class by the incomparable Guy Ritchie ("Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" '98, "Snatch" 2000, "Swept Away" '02, "Revolver" '05, "Suspect" (TV movie) '07, "RocknRolla" '08, "Sherlock Holmes" '09, "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" '11). Ritchie started as a cutting edge director helming smaller independent films i.e. "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch", but even though he basically went 'commercial' i.e. "Sherlock Holmes" and this film, his brand of style just never seems to change. The slickness coupled with the gritty photography and fast cut editing is represented in all his films whether indie or commercial. This was freshly written by Ritchie and Lionel Wigram based on a story by Jeff Kleeman, David Campbell Wilson, Ritchie and Wigram which is based on the TV series of the same name by Sam Rolfe. I must say, for a film based on either a TV series or an original older film, this script was fresher, slicker and more gritty than all others out there. Surely there were a couple of small slow spots, but certainly not enough to take away from the precision of which this was created. When I saw this trailer a little while ago, I thought it would be yet another unoriginal over-cooked remake just to fill in a summer time slot. Wow! Did I get far more than I bargained for. Kudos guys!

If you like espionage films, you'll, of course, love this, however couple this with the grit, slickness and style of the directing and the originality and freshness of plot and script, and you've got a bonafide winner, and all available in a great IMAX format.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                Rated: PG-13                               116mins.