Review of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Glib Reviews of Recent DVD & Blu Ray Releases.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. 
- Directed by Guy Ritchie.

A pretty entertaining movie rehash of one of my very first ‘Favourite TV shows.” Like my other early rerun Favourite ‘Star Trek,’ ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’ was in reruns for the first time, after 5 years off the air, so 1973-ish for me.  My first crushes on men, were probably on these two, ‘not as suave as either thinks,’ and awesomely named super spies, ‘Napoleon Solo, and Ilya Kuryakin. I have rose coloured memories of watching that particular spy show. I was very much as a kid into spy tv shows, like this or, ‘the Avengers,’ ‘I Spy,’ ‘Get Smart,’ and the zillion others that came and went in the 70’s.

I tried my best not to bring too much nostalgia to this movie remake. I enjoy the Star Trek movies, best as really good two part episodes of which ever show the characters are from. Most old tv shows rebooted into movies suffer from trying too hard to re-invent the wheel. and I am always a bit trepidatious, and try to look at reboots, as just that, an interpretation of that old movie, tv show that you liked.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. suffers a bit from comparison, and nostalgia though, despite the great look, set dec, and overall great retro look. It is actually in the movie’s favour that unlike Bond, they aren’t trying to keep contemporary. The only way The Man From U.N.C.L.E. really works is during the cold war. Otherwise like Bond, it may have the name, but it’s not really what it was meant to be. I Really enjoyed this film. It was very well paced, and I thought the cast was totally on board with keeping it retro, and kind of ‘Mad Men’ slick. Superman was great as Solo, totally inhabiting that suave but dangerous mid-Atlantic accent, and always on the game manners. The Lone Ranger had a bit of a tougher role, in that he was much less outwardly nerdy than McCallum’s original. The PTSD is played pretty respectfully, but brings down what should have been just slightly more light hearted a film.

Obviously, the film is setting up a possible sequel and beyond, by the ending which flows very nicely. The thing is, as entertained as I was by this pretty slick picture, I kept thinking, man this would make an awesome TV series.

7.55648 East German Lady Mechanics Who Like To Wrestle Outta 10



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review of 'the Lobster'

Image
Glib Reviews of Movies people have been telling me to watch all year. The Lobster - Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos Since this came out like a year or so ago, everyone who has seen it, and knows me has been telling me how much I would like it. Thus as a master Contrarian, I haven't been arsed to watch it. Really just have not been in the mood for it, or something. But after watching the Super Hero filled Captain America the night before, I needed an art film palate cleanser. The Lobster was as tasty as an actual lobster. I'm a pretty big fan of director Yorgos Lanthimos' previous film Dogtooth, which was one of those pictures where the absurdity is what is riveting, it real but it's not, it's mundane but it's not. Like the best Fassbinder films, this film is about nothing, sort of.... a middle aged guy whose wife leaves him, and because of the particular dystopian society he lives in, he's forced to go live in a hotel an find a new partner. If he does...
Read more

Nerd-Sploitation Weekend continues

Image
Glib Reviews of New Releases NerdFest Day 2 Continuing my Nerd-Sploitation festival with the almost traditional tale of of the out of control Game Master. Earlier examples of this sort of the tiny Nerdsploitation genre includes Gamers, (and it’s sequel) or any of those movies that I don't watch, that involve video games. Zero Charisma - Directed by Katie Graham , Andrew Matthews Is a surprising solid portrayal of the aging Nerd, or Fan. The main character is in many ways a painful reminder of what its like to be so obsessed with a game (or any fantasy) that it ruins the rest of your life.  Scott The GM in question ( Sam Eidson ), may in fact be a triggering presence for many gamers, or ex gamers. Be warned, the interplay of the players and GM struggling through a ridiculously overlong campaign is more realistic than the things the players do ‘in game.’ People being talked over, outside noise causing havoc with the flow of the game, the omnipresence of snack...
Read more

Movie Review of Captain America: Civil War

Image
Glib reviews of movies finally on the Netflix Captain America: Civil War - Directed by the Russo Bros. Now this is an Avengers movie. Everyone is petty, even when they are owning up to civ casualtiesYes it's a very paint by numbers but extremely well paced comic book story, that makes the most of it's two and a half hour running time. The Story would be over in two issues of a comic, maybe three or four with certain modern writers more prone to giving their artists quirky dialogue and sex jokes than punchy punchy scenes. So much punchy punchy in this movie, and better choreographed than most super-movies, with the jump cuts that make the fighting seem fake (ask Jackie Chan about this, wide shots are best for good solid action that makes people wince in pain. jump cuts just scare you.) Any who, like all good comic book team ups, the heroes spend most of their time either having a punchy misunderstanding, or they are tricked by a villain. this movie has both. Most of the ...
Read more