The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

With the Cold War raging in full gear, the 1960's in pop culture was the decade of the spy, of international intrigue, of espionage. From James Bond, Matt Helm, Harry Palmer and Derek Flint in films to Mission: Impossible and Man from U.N.C.L.E. on television, audiences ate up their spy stories as quickly as possible. Me? I love 'em all, great, good, bad and awful. Naturally I was curious then when I found out a movie was being made about one of those 60's television series. It took me a couple weeks, but here we are with 2015's The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

It's 1963 in East Berlin and CIA agent (by blackmail) Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) is working a suspect with ties to a brilliant scientist capable of building a nuclear bomb. The problem? There's two. One, the scientist has been missing for years, and the suspect, his niece Gaby (Alicia Vikander), hasn't seen him in just as many years. Two, a KGB agent, Ilya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer), is also looking for the scientist, creating a bit of a rivalry. There's an easy solution though that goes far above these agents' heads...work together to get the job done. With Ilya posing as Gaby's fiance and Napoloen as an antiquities dealer, the trio head to Italy to follow the evidence. What are they going to find? All sorts of glamorous, scandalous behavior with fanatics, lunatics and stashed away Nazis. What could possibly go wrong?

Running for four seasons in the mid-1960's, the original 'UNCLE' starred Robert Vaughn, David McCallum and Leo G. Carroll, capitalizing on the spy craze. I watched the first season and loved it (in all its black and white glory) but lost interest during season 2 as the tone got a little too spoofish for me. Still, the appeal of a franchise being created was pretty cool, and it took years to do and countless cast possibilities and what-ifs roaming around Hollywood. Well, it's here and from director Guy Ritchie, it is a great summer movie that's good for all the right reasons.

For starters, the biggest reason this reboot (of sorts) works so well is the style. My worry was that the series would be modernized for the film, two agents in 2015 working together toward a common goal. My worries were unfounded thankfully! Ritchie's film is set at the height of the Cold War, the nuclear paranoia ravaging the world. On a purely visual, style-based rating, 'UNCLE' is a freaking gem. The look of the movie from the Italian locations is gorgeous, but it's more than just the ridiculously colorful spy flick. It's the clothes and fashions, the cars, the aura hanging in the air, the 1960's gadgets, the little things that when assembled together end up bringing a movie up a notch or two. If you care NOTHING about the story, just sit back and appreciate the visual of one beautiful spy movie. Besides, you know the good guys are gonna win, right? Oh no, spoilers!

One of the cooler aspects of 'UNCLE' is the casting of Cavill and Hammer as our two rival agents. Both are up-and-coming stars who seem destined for bigger and better. We don't go in with the mindset of knowing these stars as if Tom Cruise and George Clooney had been cast, and that's a good thing. We get to know the characters a little bit. Cavill's Solo is a WWII vet turned master thief turned captured agent blackmailed into working for the CIA. Hammer's Ilya grew up in war-torn WWII Russia and watched his father be dragged away, setting something off in his young son. A brutally efficient agent, he is a physical specimen. It can be familiar at times, but the two rival agents getting to know each other angle works pretty well. And again, it doesn't hurt that there is a fresh quality to the casting with two young actors.

The reviews were kinda mixed about...well, a lot, but I really did like Cavill and Hammer. Cavill is so smooth and suave that he's a little wooden in scenes, but he does a good variation on a James Bond-esque thief and pickpocket. Hammer is the straight guy but sells it throughout, committing to the KGB agent seemingly without emotions. Vikander is excellent as their go-between, an impromptu spy trying to keep the two agents from killing each other. Hugh Grant and Jared Harris are brutally underused as two superior agents who are pulling all the strings. As for the villains, they're okay but could have been stronger. Elizabeth Debicki is the most memorable as the fanatical Victoria, a stinking rich nut, with Luca Calvani and Sylvester Groth as her two closest allies. No huge names anywhere in sight, but that's not an issue in the least.

I liked the first hour here and loved the second as the characters and story really hit their groove. We finally get into things, and the action and style mixes seamlessly with the witty banter and impeccable filming locations. The action is especially stylish, including one highlight as Napoleon stumbles across a factory worker's lunch while Ilya evades gunboats hunting him down. We see that action in reflections, in a mirror, and it's silent all the way, Napoleon dead-pan eating a sandwich. A large-scale attack later on an Italian island villa is done in montage and it works in a way I wouldn't have thought. Ritchie and Co. manage to strike quite a balance among all the moving pieces, blending that style, humor, cool characters and cooler action.

Also worth mentioning, the 1960's French and Italian-themed score from Daniel Pemberton, a gem of a score. There are times the catchy score even resembles something out of a spaghetti western. That little touch of flair adds something fun and different to the proceedings. Great score though, liked it a lot. 'UNCLE' isn't tearing up the box office unfortunately, as movie critics are pretty mixed while actual moviegoers seem to be enjoying it. The ending sets things up nicely for any future ventures (hopefully!) as you'd expect. Should there be a sequel, I hope we get a Vaughn and McCallum cameo at some point. Make it happen, Guy Ritchie! In the meantime, check this one out. It's a lot of fun throughout.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015): ***/****

The Lone Ranger

It is a character who's name is instantly recognizable, the Lone Ranger. First appearing in radio serials in 1933, the Lone Ranger has seen has his own very successful TV show in the 1950s, a brief run as an animated star in the 1960s, a disastrously bad (so I've heard) film version in 1981, and most recently, a reboot of the character of sorts, 2013's The Lone Ranger. Where does it stand? Well, it was one of the biggest financial disappointments of the year. Give it a try though, keep an open mind and I think you'll like it. I did.

It's 1869 in Colby, Texas and a young, naive, idealistic new district attorney, John Reid (Armie Hammer) arrives in town ready to clean up the area. The country is expanding, the railroad racing across the state, and Reid wants to be a part of it, to bring some civilization to the area. A problem has arisen though, a sadistic outlaw, Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner), escaping from custody. Reid heads out with a posse of Texas Rangers to catch Cavendish, but they're ambushed and Reid is the only one to survive, albeit getting shot in the process. He awakes to find a Comanche warrior, Tonto (Johnny Depp), looking out for him, claiming that Reid is now a Spirit Warrior, a man who passed to the other side and come back to normal life. Tonto too is searching for Cavendish with his own reasons for revenge. Forming an unlikely partnership, Reid -- disguising himself because Cavendish believes he's dead -- and Tonto decide to work together to find Cavendish, all amidst the railroad issues and cavalry intervening with a possible Comanche uprising.

Released last summer in theaters, 'Lone' had quite the checkered history in actually getting to theaters. When it did reach audiences, it flopped. Odd to think of any movie that earned $260 million internationally being a flop, but when a film had a budget somewhere between $225-250 million and another $100-plus on promotion, well, it's a flop. Well.....I liked it. For me, my enjoyment started because it is an entertaining movie. Plain and simple, it's entertaining. More than that though as a western, it knows where the genre has come from. Hans Zimmer's musical score is solid if not up there with his best, but it samples spaghetti western master composer Ennio Morricone's scores from Once Upon a Time in the West and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in some nice nods to genre classics.  'Lone' was also filmed in Monument Valley, made famous by director John Ford, and even some of the shots are reminiscent of iconic Ford shots. It's nice little touches that this that start 'Lone' off on the right foot.

With a film directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Johnny Depp, my worry was that I would be watching a western version of Pirates of the Caribbean: Western Style. The end result is a positive and negative. Yes, it is in the same vein of the Pirates movies. It's big and loud and colorful and schizophrenic at times. There's a lot of characters, a lot going on, blending in the drama with some laughs and some action. In other words, 'Lone' tries to be that perfect summer blockbuster, succeeding for the most parts. What then are the biggest issues? A framing device in the story department comes up short, an aged, wrinkly Tonto in 1933 San Francisco telling the Lone Ranger's story to a little boy, is forced and tries to lighten the mood too much. The elements of the mystical and spiritual are overdone as well, Tonto's insistence that John is a Spirit Warrior good but just used too much. Also, is Tonto a spirit himself? Just have fun with the story. Don't overdo it like that.

One of the original hero/sidekick duos, the Lone Ranger and Tonto are two pretty cool characters no matter what Ranger incarnation we're talking. I wasn't sold on Hammer (The Social Network) as John Reid, but he grew on me with each passing scene. The same for Depp, the casting looking like he'd play Capt. Jack Sparrow in the west. His Tonto is quirky, a little off in the Capt. Jack vein, but it is most definitely a fun part. He definitely doesn't deserve the flak he's received, including a Razzie nomination for Worst Actor. I also don't think it's fair to criticize Depp for being cast as a Native American. Is it in poor taste? It's a movie. Cool your jets. Above all else, I liked the chemistry between Hammer and Depp. Hammer's John is somewhat suspicious of Tonto, wanting to do things his way. Depp's Tonto thinks John is a little off himself, his idealistic motivations having no place in the wild west. They're funny together, both given some background to humanize them a bit, Tonto's background providing some of the emotional background.

Who else to look out for? Fichtner is very creepy as the infamous outlaw Butch Cavendish who enjoys eating his victims' hearts as they die. Look for James Frain and Leon Rippy in small parts as members of Butch's gang. Tom Wilkinson plays Latham Cole, the railroad executive placed in charge of advancing the rails as fast and far as possible. It's Wilkinson so you know he's up to something. Otherwise, why would he be here? Ruth Wilson is solid too as John's sister-in-law, a past love, who married John's brother, a Texas Ranger, played in a nice supporting part for James Badge Dale. Also having some fun is Helena Bonham Carter as Red, a brothel owner with an ivory leg, siding with John and Tonto in their troubles while Barry Pepper plays a God-fearing, gung-ho cavalry officer working with Cole to control the Comanches. Even Stephen Root makes an appearance late as a higher-up in the railroad company who's checking on the progress his company is making.

Again in the vein of the Pirates series is the rollover in the action department. What's there is surprisingly gruesome in terms of on-screen violence, if not particularly graphic. So be forewarned, this may not be the movie for younger kids. Mostly though, the action is flashy and fun, big and entertaining, gigantic action sequences full of CGI, crazy stunts and scenarios that no real-life human being could accomplish. The opening sequence where John and Tonto meet is pretty cool, the duo chained together and trying to stop a runaway train. The same for the finale, a train packed with silver lode being chased by another train, anyone and everyone jumping on and off one train and then the next, one ridiculous thing after another. It's goofy and fun right from the start, keeping things entertaining throughout the 149-minute running time.

Fans of the Lone Ranger will hopefully enjoy this one. I didn't come in as a huge fan with high expectations, just looking for a fun movie. It is, doing the Lone Ranger justice from his capable, maybe super-horse, Silver (his "Hi-yo, Silver, away! providing a good laugh), and of course, the Lone Ranger theme -- listen HERE -- from the William Tell overture, all those touches you're looking for in a movie with this iconic character. It's a reboot, but because of the financial struggles, this will probably be it for the series/franchise. So what are we left with? A movie that is overindulgent, goofy, schizophrenic and a whole lot of fun with some great characters, good laughs and lots of entertaining moments.

The Lone Ranger (2013): ***/****