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

I was wrong about this movie.

The first review-which is now deleted; I’m embarrassed by it-was done the summer of ’15, via a theatrical viewing. My opinion was “meh” and what threw me off was the tongue-in-cheek style, mainly from Henry Cavill but also from the other characters. In hindsight, after viewing other modern films aping the 1960’s and seeing similar performances from others-which didn’t really bother me… Uncle deserved another shot. I thought of doing so for YEARS; of course, it was recent messageboard discussion of Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander-more on that at the end-which finally gave me the push.

In 2026, the movie played much better for me. I always enjoyed the style, the fashion, the music; now, the plot and the performances sat better with me, including from Mr. Cavill. Shame that Armie Hammer has been exposed as an alleged sex pest & weirdo in the preceding 11 years, but… this tale is of a CIA agent teaming with a KGB agent along w/ Vikander (daughter of a nuclear scientist) to Rome to stop Nazi sympathizers from building their own nuclear bomb.

Now, I appreciate how fun, entertaining, cool, funny, and yes, sexy, the lead trio that couldn’t trust each other were together. The supporting turns from the likes of Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Debicki were also memorable. Even more so than 2015, the awesome fashion-especially worn by Ms. Vikander-the sweet jazzy soundtrack from Daniel Pemberton, and needle-drops that are still original today, not to mention greatly appealing to my tastes due to the usage of groovy old tunes comprising several different genres.

It is a shame that a stylish, wacky, light yet still thrilling spy film set in the swingin’ 60’s missed the mark for me back in 2015 for whatever reasons. I realize now how wrong I was then. The action was cool but the focus was on how fashionable everything was. At least now, many more eyes than back then will have read my new take on U.N.C.L.E.—now I wish there would have been a sequel teased during the conclusion.

I wish Guy Ritchie would continue to make motion pictures like this-apparently he hasn’t. As for why there was discussion on a messageboard a few days ago concerning Alicia Vikander & her husband Michael Fassbender: would you believe they are in a Korean film?! Yes, they’re in Hope, from the dude that directed the quality films The Wailing & The Chaser. I am fascinated and now excited to check out Hope in the future.