REVIEW: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. trailer

Logo for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. teaser trailer debuted Wednesday night. There were at least a couple of surprises. And one possible James Bond homage.

To be specific:

–0:04 mark: Henry Cavill’s Napoleon Solo, in the back seat of a vintage car, asks, “Are they still following us?” He employs dramatic pauses similar to the original Solo, Robert Vaughn. Why is that surprising? Cavill has said he never watched an episode of the original 1964-68 series. Meanwhile, Brit Cavill sounds convincingly American (not surprising given how he played Superman in 2013’s Man of Steel).

–Armie Hammer, as Illya Kuryakin, has a strong Russian accent. It’s much stronger than David McCallum, the actor who originated the part, ever displayed.

–The homage? Around the 1:00 mark, CIA agent Solo and KGB operative Kuryakin fight in a rest room, demolishing it. That’s extremely similar to the pre-credits sequence of the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale, the rebooted 007 movie where the British agent records his first kill.

According to the trailer, the year is 1963. An unknown criminal organization “with ties to former Nazis” is said to have built an atomic bomb. This forces the United States and Soviet Union to cooperate — even to the point of assigning Solo and Kuryakin, shown here as being foes, to work together.

Obviously, this just a taste of the movie. It doesn’t have familiar U.N.C.L.E. memes such as the secret headquarters, because U.N.C.L.E. hasn’t been formed yet. At the very end of the trailer, we catch a glimpse of Hugh Grant as Waverly. It’s hard to evaluate anything about how the actor will do playing a role originated by Leo G. Carroll.

The trailer, in effect, was the first “official” U.N.C.L.E. production since the 1983 TV movie The Return of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. It’s interesting. You can’t evaluate an entire movie based on a trailer, of course. For those who welcome a new take on U.N.C.L.E., there’s nothing to be discouraged about. For those who wanted the series left alone, they likely won’t be reassured.

GRADE: Incomplete. But we’d like to see more. You can view the trailer below:

UPDATE: Missed this the first three times, but at 1:08 mark, Kuryakin appears to be using a preliminary version of what would become the U.N.C.L.E. Special on the television series.

1:19 mark: another Vaughn like delivery by Cavill: “This could get a little messy.”

1:57 mark: possible homage to the original series and the third-season opener, The Her Master’s Voice Affair.

UPDATE II: Warner Bros. has yanked the video we embedded.

UPDATE III: This embedded video still works.

UPDATE IV: Could this be the movie’s version of the U.N.C.L.E. Special?

Armie Hammer with a weapon that looks like an U.N.C.L.E. special

UPDATE V: The official WEBSITE FOR THE MOVIE is now up.

UPDATE VI: Daniel Pemberton, who composed music for the film, says via Twitter the trailer doesn’t contain his score.

The Man From UNCLE teaser trailer finally out.. Looks like you'll have to wait till the film hits to hear first blast of my music though..!!

— Daniel Pemberton (@DANIELPEMBERTON) February 12, 2015

People, Entertainment Weekly have U.N.C.L.E. peek

Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer
(Art by Paul Baack)

Both People magazine and Entertainment Weekly, both part of Time Inc., have put out sneak peeks of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie hours ahead of the release of the film’s teaser trailer.

THE STORY ON PEOPLE’S WEBSITE centers on Henry Cavill, who plays Napoleon Solo, the role created by Robert Vaughn in the 1964-68 series. Here’s a brief excerpt:

Henry Cavill ditches his Superman suit for a sleek tux in this summer’s silver-screen adaptation of the 1960s TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

The Man of Steel actor calls the film, which is directed by Guy Ritchie, “a cool, sexy and especially not heavy Cold War spy thriller.”

The story is pretty short but has new images from the movie, which had principal photography in September-December 2013.

The ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY STORY is a little bit broader (and contains additional images). It includes this quote from co-writer Lionel Wigram about how the movie came to be an origin story.

“The series hadn’t really done the origin story—U.N.C.L.E. already existed,” says producer Lionel Wigram, who also co-wrote the screenplay. “At the height of the Cold War you’ve got a Russian and an American working together. How did that come about?”

The Russian is Illya Kuryakin, played in the film by Armie Hammer and a role originated by David McCallum. The trailer is scheduled to go online at 8 p.m. today, New York time.

UPDATE: This image of a poster has shown up on Twitter. Also the movie now has A TWITTER FEED. According to one of the images on the Twitter page, the movie will be available in Imax. (Also, there is now a FACEBOOK PAGE for the movie.)

New poster for Guy Ritchie's #ManFromUNCLE. Check out the trailer on @PeopleMag and @EW at 5pm PT. pic.twitter.com/AFIww0Jf2g

— Man From UNCLE (@manfromuncle) February 11, 2015

Canada may change copyright laws

“I may not be in the public domain in Canada afterall?”

Canada may change its copyright laws as part of trade negotiations, which could squelch publication of new, unauthorized James Bond stories.

Here’s an excerpt from a Feb. 7 story in THE HUFFINGTON POST.

The U.S.’s controversial “Mickey Mouse Protection Act” — the name given by critics to a particularly strong copyright term law — may be coming to Canada thanks to a new trade deal.

There’s plenty we don’t know about what’s been agreed to in the negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership, largely because of a monolithic veil of secrecy surrounding the talks (although many of Canada’s lobbyists have reportedly been given access).

But according to a news brief from Japan’s NHK, negotiators working on the 12-country TPP trade area have come to an agreement on the copyright chapter of the trade deal. Under the agreement, copyright terms would be extended to the life of the creator plus 70 years.

You can view view the NHK item BY CLICKING HERE. It’s short and vague, referring to how trade negotiators “are a step closer” to change.

The literary 007 is controlled by Ian Fleming Publications, managed by the heirs of James Bond creator Ian Fleming.

In Canada, the literary Bond entered public domain on Jan. 1. Under copyright law there, protection lasts 50 years after the author’s death. That prompted the announcement of AN UNAUTHORIZED ANTHOLOGY OF JAMES BOND STORIES CALLED LICENCE EXPIRED to be published in that country. The copyright law may endanger that project. For more, you can view THIS STORY on the MI6 James Bond website.

A couple of questions, though, to keep in mind: If Canada changes its copyright laws, when would it take effect? (Immediately? Some future date?) Depending on that answer, is still possible the unauthorized Bond stories could see print before the law changes? If the answer to that question is yes, the anthology could become a bit of a Bond collector’s item.