If 2012 was the year of the superhero, then surely 2015 is the year of the spy (and also the superhero). There’s already been some success with Kingsman: The Secret Service and October will see the daddy of them all when new Bond film SPECTRE is released. In summer Tom Cruise returns for another round as Ethan Hawke for Mission: Impossible 5, along with another film based on a 1960s spy show – The Man from UNCLE.
So what’s different about this one? For a start, rather than unnecessarily undate it’s a period piece which is brilliant. Many directors would kill to make a Bond film set in the 1960s and perhaps this is the closest we’ll get.Plus since Marvel made SHIELD mainstream, really contrived acronyms have become far more acceptable. Do you think UNCLE, still fight THRUSH? Make your own joke about soothing creams. The basic set up is that at the height of the Cold War, US and Russian intelligence services must work together to take on a greater threat.
Guy Ritchie is in the director’s chair having magnificently resurrected his career with a couple of insane but fun Sherlock Holmes films. Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer star as Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, roles made famous by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum in the original show, with support from Hugh Grant as Waverly.
The Man from UNCLE is released 14 August 2015
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