Chris Luckett

Movie adaptations of ‘60s TV are old hat these days. The last quarter-century has seen dozens of movies made from properties as different as The Flintstones and The Fugitive. And within those, ‘60s TV spy adaptations are arguably the most worn-out genre of all.

Between The Mod Squad, Get Smart, Wild Wild West, The Avengers (the 1998 caper starring Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman), I Spy, and five Mission: Impossibles, audiences have had nearly every famous property repackaged and retrofitted for modern consumption.

If another is to stand a chance, it needs to differentiate itself from both its predecessor and its modern-day peers. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. knows this — but knowing the perfect thing to do isn’t the same thing as perfectly pulling it off. Continue reading →