The Man From Uncle: 5 Mistakes That Seriously Damage The Movie

2. The Villain Is Pretty Terrible

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. can't make its mind up on villains, but the one it seems to want to position as its "main" bad guy is that of Elizabeth Debicki's Victoria Vinciguerra, who - as far as blockbuster villains go - is pretty darn terrible. She's not scary; she's not funny; she's not even in the movie very much. She's the most forgettable villain in recent memory. It's not really Debicki's fault - she does what she can with the character written on the page, which is "rich, evil white woman with a strong British accent" and not a thing more. But why didn't Guy Ritchie write a more interesting villain for his movie, and find an actor with the ability to make said villain interesting? It seems like a major oversight that the movie's most exciting bad guy is a Nazi doctor (Sylvester Groth), and he's not really even a proper villain; just a freak played for comic effect. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. really needed an antagonist with a personal connection to one of its lead characters - somebody who Napoleon or Illya had prior history with, so that the mission might've packed more weight.