Over the years, Guy Ritchie has earned quite a reputation for himself through his crime thrillers. They showcase his unique style of humor that often banks upon entertaining banters and idiosyncracies of its characters. In 2015, he came up with “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” a spy action adventure flick based on the eponymous MGM television series. Set in the early 1960s, It follows a CIA agent and a KGB operative teaming up with a German nuclear scientist’s daughter to battle Nazi sympathizers from working on nuclear weapons in the wake of the second world war.
Spoilers Ahead
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
“The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” follows events in the early 1960s as CIA agent Napoleon Solo joins hands with KGB operative Illya Kuryakin and the daughter of a German nuclear scientist.
What happens in ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’?
“The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” follows prolific CIA Agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) as he travels to Germany to speak with Gaby (Alicia Vikander), the daughter of rocket scientist Dr. Udo Teller. He reveals how her father’s expert knowledge about nuclear power might get into the wrong hands and hopes to extract her. Moments later, he asks her to drive a car while KGB Agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) tries to kill him. Napoleon and Gaby manage to escape. A while later, Napoleon’s senior officer, Sanders (Jared Harris) tells him that he must team up with Ilya to stop Nazi sympathisers, Victoria (Elizabeth Debicki) and Alexander (Luca Calvani) Vinciguerra, from building their own private nuclear device.
Gaby’s Uncle Rudi (Sylvester Groth) is a senior executive at the Vinciguerras’ criminal organization. CIA and the KGB want Napoleon, Ilya, and Gaby to work together to infiltrate their organization and retrieve Udo and his research. For their first step, Gaby is supposed to pretend to be Ilya’s fiancée while Ilya pretends to be a Russian architect. They travel to Rome, Italy, where some thieves steal Ilya’s father’s watch. Although itching to thrash them, Ilya keeps calm so that they won’t blow their cover. Later, Gaby and Ilya go to the 50th anniversary of Vinciguerra shipping. Napoleon follows them by stealing an invitation. There, he attracts Victoria’s attention.
The Vinciguerras’ Party
During the party, Napoleon strikes up a conversation with Victoria as Gaby & Ilya meet her uncle Rudi. Rudi immediately suspects that Ilya is not an architect as he is shaped more like a bodybuilder. While he walks away, Gaby seeks Rudi’s help to meet her father, Udo. He claims he is helpless in that regard. So, she tries to woo Alexander to meet her goals. Meanwhile, Victoria suspects Napoleon is an expert thief after noticing him stealing some of her belongings since their meeting. Under his cover, he tries to gain her confidence. Later on, Napoleon and Ilya break into a shipping yard owned by the Vinciguerras. Inside, they break open a security locker to discover parts of the centrifuge to refine uranium.
As the alarm turns on, Napoleon and Ilya escape through the water. Napoleon swims his way out and realizes that Ilya is drowning. So, he drives his truck into the water and saves Ilya. That night, Gaby receives a call from Udi, who invites her to meet him the following day. Right after, she informs someone about this meeting. As the Vinciguerras sense the danger, Victoria decides to take charge of the situation. She drives up to the hotel to find Napoleon and spends the night with him. The next day, Gaby meets Rudi and Alexander while Ilya stays nearby, listening to their conversation through a hearing bug. Suddenly, she discloses the actual purpose of her visit and betrays Ilya.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) Movie Ending Explained:
After Gaby reveals her truth, Ilya runs away from the Vinciguerras’ property. Then, she asks Alexander to set a meeting with her father. Meanwhile, Napoleon meets Victoria at her office, who drugs him. Once he wakes up, he finds himself tied to a chair in a bunker room, being subjected to physical torture by Rudi. While doing so, Rudi shares the details of Udo’s history with Nuclear power, which was utilized in the World War. Then, he reveals that the weapon is hidden in the Vinciguerras’ private retreat on a remote island. Moments later, Ilya reaches into the room, uncuffs Napoleon, and replaces him with Rudi. As Napoleon and Ilya decide what to do with Rudi, Rudi burns to death.
Why does Gaby betray Ilya & Napoleon?
On the island fortress, Gaby reunites with her father, Udo (Christian Berkel). Meanwhile, Napoleon and Ilya meet Waverly (Hugh Grant), an MI6 officer whom they met at the Vinciguerras’ party. Waverly reveals Gaby crossed them under his orders as an undercover agent. That’s why, earlier, Gaby called Napoleon to inform him about her meeting with Rudi. Also, she disclosed her true identity to Rudi & Alexander, knowing Ilya’s capability to escape in little to no time, considering his experience as a KGB agent. In the present, Waverly, Napoleon, and Ilya infiltrate the Vinciguerras’ island to protect the keys to nuclear power from Nazi sympathizers and to permanently disable the bomb.
Do Napoleon, Ilya, and Gaby manage to stop Victoria from her catastrophic mission?
Victoria suspects Gaby and Udi are betraying her. Alexander kidnaps Gaby and tries to escape with the warhead. But Napoleon finds and kills him. However, right after, they realize it is the wrong, non-nuclearised warhead. Victoria used it as a decoy while she ran away with the real warhead. As Waverly’s team tries to finish their mission, Napoleon calls Victoria through the radio and distracts her. She threatens to kill all her kin as a homing missile approaches her ship, destroys the nuclear weapon, and kills her.
Later on, Ilya’s superiors ask him to get hold of Udo Teller’s research disc from the Americans to save himself from any danger. So, he confronts Napoleon, who returns his stolen watch. Then, Ilya reveals he was supposed to kill Napoleon and return to Russia with the contents of the disc. They sense the potential danger of this knowledge and decide to burn the disc so neither country has an advantage in further violent conflicts. As Gaby reunites with them, Waverly gives them three a new mission with a new monicker – U.N.C.L.E in his global organization.
