If this is how Ritchie and Cavill Bond, we’re lucky they never did.

Aside from a microdot of genuine excitement and energy, U.N.C.L.E. is a masterclass in mundane, insubstantial espionage.

U.N.C.L.E. shields its simplicity behind an over-saturation of style; everything so slick that nothing sticks, so smooth that it can’t gain traction.

The central trio of Hammer, Cavill and Vikander similarly look great but have little to do except act suave and speak in exposition.

Ritchie makes some bold creative choices, playing with sound, lens flare and split-screen, but however good the suit looks on the hanger, it just doesn’t fit.

Ritchie has tried to make a sleek and smart period spy caper, but The Man From U.N.C.L.E. falls short of any of its intended opposition. Looks great, but feels wrong.

RATING: 2/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Hugh Grant, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Jared Harris

DIRECTOR: Guy Ritchie

WRITERS: Guy Ritchie, Lionel Wigram

SYNOPSIS: In the early 1960s, CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Cavill) and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin (Hammer) participate in a joint mission against a mysterious criminal organisation which is working to proliferate nuclear weapons.