Movie review | Henry Cavill not so super in ‘UNCLE,’ but he sure is good-looking

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

Most of our readership will not remember “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” a cold war-era TV show (1964-68) starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum as American and Soviet spies forced to work together.

Co-created by Ian Fleming, James Bond’s creator, the hugely popular primetime weekly show capitalized on the world’s obsession with the Soviet Union and James Bond-type spies. The 2015 movie of the same name follows the exploits of American thief-turned spy Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and Soviet badass, Illya Kuryakin, played by Armie Hammer.

Fans of “Social Network” will recognize the giant, athletic Hammer as playing the Winklevoss rowing team twins from whom Mark Zuckerberg “stole” the Facebook concept.

The disappointing 2013 Superman film “Man of Steel” stars Cavill, who offers a Superman-esque portryal in “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” as the too-good-looking-to-be-believable Solo. Hugh Grant plays a very Hugh Grant-ish British spy chief, Mr. Waverly, and Swedish beauty Alicia Vikander plays Kuryakin’s love interest, Gaby Teller, the daughter of nuclear weapons scientist.

Set in the 1960s, the film offers a fun and fast-paced look back at the swinging ‘60s with lots of international locales and the highly stylized direction of Guy Ritchie (“Snatch” and “Sherlock Holmes”). While Hammer nailed his part as the Soviet superspy, you may be less convinced of Cavill’s performance, which comes across as stiff and aloof, not unlike the way you’d expect Superman to read a script.

Still, fans of Cold War-era spy thrillers will enjoy the action and the clever pairing of Soviet and American at a time when the two superpowers couldn’t have been further apart.

This story was originally published August 26, 2015 at 1:44 AM with the headline "Movie review | Henry Cavill not so super in ‘UNCLE,’ but he sure is good-looking."