The most impressive aspect of this film is how
stylized and aesthetically pleasing the director made it. The first scene set
the bar for the rest of the movie, and the last scene is the perfect portrayal
of how the color and depth truly impacted the overall feel.
Starting at a Checkpoint in Berlin in 1963, Gaby
played by Alicia Vikander is introduced to Solo played by Henry Cavill. She is
perfect for the role; her "lethal combination of beauty and brain"
and so much more. Most recently, her performance as Ava in Ex Machina is likely
from where any viewers would recognize her. Breaking stereotypes, she is found
working under a car as Solo approaches to take advantage of her bloodline and
getaway car. The two are caught in a high-speed chase running from Illya who
works for a Russian agency played by Armie Hammer. This car chase is definitely
one of my favorite parts of the film with the use of clever strategy and the
fact that the cars are considered antique cars to todays viewers.
Going into the back-story of Solo, we discover that
he was once a notable criminal who specialized in stealing. After recognizing
his skill set, he was picked up as an American agent with the determination
that his talent would be wasted in jail. On the cusp of catching Solo and Gaby,
Illya is approached by the KGB and flees from the scene. Pre-planning every
move, Solo directs Gaby to drive down a tight alley way where the car will end
up perfectly lodged, feet above the ground enabling them to seamlessly move
from the car into the window of perfectly placed building. The two end up
getting away from Illya, but not for long.
A man associated with the agency takes Solo to an
undisclosed location for his next task. Before arriving, the man suggests,
"What I'm about to feed you might taste a little bitter, but nevertheless
you have to swallow." Solo is soon found in a bathroom with longtime enemy
Illya. They are assigned a mission as partners to infiltrate the atom bomb
organization. Comically, after the mission is revealed in a small cafe, every
single "patron" gets up to leave revealing to us that everyone around
them is planted because the two do not have an option to say no. This sense of
humor is carried throughout the film and creates a light air that I definitely
appreciated.
Setting the tone for their relationship Solo starts
things off with a strong insult to Illya's past, including dissing his mother.
Naturally, it will take some time for Solo and Illya to swallow the idea of
America teaming with Russia. Gaby is also joining to make the perfect trio. She
will take the role of Illya's fiancée, which will lead to the eventual
introduction of Illya to her Uncle Rudy played by Sylvester Groth. The end goal
is to introduce the agents to her biological father and the link to him is
through Uncle Rudy.
Gaby puts effort into the planted engagement to
Illya with a plan to make him smile and adorable, impulsive dancing as he
resists due to his straight-laced demeanor. The first time the audience is
convinced of any relationship is when Gaby claims, "so you don't want to
dance but you do want to wrestle" as she pushes him down and pins him only
to pass out completely intoxicated. This ignites a laugh and also leads to the
first contribution of Illya to the relationship as he carries her to bed and
tucks her in.
As the relationship of Illya and Gaby starts to
build, the trust level of the supposed partners Solo and Illya could use some
encouragement. Both of them are caught red-handed in the hotel hallway learning
they each planted bugs in the other's room.
In the next scene, we are introduced to the real
villain Victoria played by Elizabeth Debicki and Illya is set up to meet Uncle
Rudy with nice Gaby and her architect fiancee Illya at the racetracks. Debicki
has a very low amount of screen time, but does play the role very well. Later
to be revealed, the driver of the car at the race is the husband of Victoria,
Alexander played by Luca Calvani. Alexander is magnetically attracted to Gaby's
way around an engine, and puts the moves on her as part of Debicki's ultimate
scheme. Solo is also there with quick hands on his way to meet Victoria as he
planned. As Solo is making a few mistakes sticking to his own ways, Illya is
doing the same as he beats up a few punks in the bathroom for ignoring his
request to use the sink. The trio runs home to avoid being caught creating
turmoil.
Illya locks himself in the bathroom as he is
attempting to develop photos as Gaby attempts to talk with him about why there
was such a rush to leave. Upon day's end, Illya and Solo alike agree "I
work better alone." The revelation of the photos determines their next
move to break into the plant where the bomb is being manufactured. The huge
fail here is the use of a cheesy photomontage to show what Solo and Illya are
doing simultaneously; this is extremely tacky and even prompted a rather
exaggerated eye roll from me.
The intrusion into the plant ends in a boat chase
by the plant security. Solo predictably gets away and winds up in a stumbled
upon truck drinking wine and eating a sandwich as Illya loses the chase on the
water. As Solo sees that Illya is actually in some danger when the boat is in
flames and sinking, he gets out of the truck and saves him.
Victoria is informed of the intruders and
immediately knows Illya and Solo are at fault. The unanswered calls to their
hotel rooms validates they are the ones to burglarize the plant. Immediately
she goes to the hotel asking for their room keys as Solo and Illya sneak in
behind her. Victoria finds them in their hotel rooms and is caught not able to
blame them.
The next day Gaby gets a call from her uncle saying
he would like to meet her at "twelve" to which she agrees because it
will lead to her father. Illya calms her nerves for the meet taking on the role
of her supposed fiancée by suggesting, "I'll be close by."
Not wasting any time at the meeting place, Gaby
immediately confronts Uncle Rudy, "I know my father is here and that he
works for you!" At the same time, Solo is in Victoria's office: "I'd
say you put something in my drink." To which Victoria replies, "I laced
all the drinks." As Solo passes out from the drink, Gaby is giving away
Illya's cover in the woods. The story changes to reveal that Gaby has set up
the two to blow their cover in order to protect her father.
Solo is then dragged by Victoria to the Doctor of
the Apocalypse "the master of pain and fear" as he attempts to
electrocute his next subject and enter it into the final page of his torture
logs. Victoria immediately sails away on a boat. Illya eventually comes to save
Solo as he had previously planted a tracker in his shoe, and the two changes
positions. The Doctor ends up in the chair as the electricity kicks back on and
burns him to a crisp but not before he has revealed too much information to
Solo and Illya. Oddly enough this is a great example of humor as the two
struggle to make a decision on what to do with the Doctor as smoke floods the
room.
Gaby is then taken to her father and we learn that
her father is not the actual enemy, but he has no choice but to follow
direction for what he has been told to do with the atom bomb. Victoria catches
on to the father daughter alliance that leads to the death of Gaby's father
letting him know beforehand "She'll be joining you shortly." During
this drama, Illya and Solo get new orders to get the remote at any cost:
"Kill the American if you have to." "Kill the Russian if you
have to." Again, the tacky split screen makes an appearance. This was so
long it's impressive. It does lend itself to an old time feel but looks like a
very cheap effect. To reflect, the use of this montage may have been to limit
the amount of actual action on screen allowing the audience to focus more on
the actual story at hand.
Gaby is taken with the man from the racetrack,
Alexander with the atom bomb and the remote. This action scene involves two
cars and Illya on a motorcycle coming from three distance locations. The aerial
view with a few close up shots is very well done here. This allows the film to
redeem itself a bit from the not one, but two montage features. As the chase ends
in an extreme crash, we learn the bomb in that vehicle is a decoy and the real
bomb is on the ship with Victoria, Diadema an old fishing boat associated with
the mob Uncle Rudy has a connection.
Solo tracks down the ship calling to Victoria and
getting a response when he reveals that he has killed her husband. He is able
to keep the phone connection long enough to secure the location and launch a
less powerful missile to sink the ship and end the capability of the atomic
bomb being sold or launched by her.
Once again, Solo and Illya are plotted against each
other to get the only other copy of the remote to the atomic bomb, which will
lead their home country to be the most powerful on the planet. After all this
time, while the two have not developed a solid friendship, they have fostered
true respect in the other proving this to be a rather difficult challenge. Solo
quickly catches on when Illya visits that he is doing so to follow orders and
attempt to murder him.
In the final scene, the three are found on the patio
watching the remote burn being told they have a new codename: UNCLE. The
lighting here is beautiful as the last shot is a silhouette of the three. The
music here is fantastic, and is likely my favorite aspect of the film. The
variety of it and the fact that it is not overpowering is perfect. Overall, the
film was decent. The storyline did try to incorporate too many twists and turns
that allowed some aspects to be lost. If it would have stuck to a solid
backstory and just one section of this plot, it may have been better. While the
story was followable, there were way too many levels making it lose a bit of
focus and impact.
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