Quick Reviews: ‘Shaun the Sheep’ and ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’

Shaun the Sheep / The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

I saw two movies this weekend! And I’m actually writing about them! Huzzah!

#### Shaun the Sheep

Would you like to have a delightful time at the movies? Then you should totally see _Shaun the Sheep_. In 90 minutes of beautifully stop-motion animation by Aardman –the folks behind _Wallace and Gromit_ (among other things)– Shaun the clever sheep leads a flock of sheep on an adventure to the big city. It’s funny, sweet, and emotional and despite having no dialogue manages to have a pretty menacing villain, a pretty great central story, and a delightful musical number in the middle.

Sure, it’s a kids movie, but it’s a great kids movie and you should totally see it.

#### The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Would you like to be bored at the movies? Really? Why would you want that? To each their own I suppose. In that case you should totally check out _The Man From U.N.C.L.E._, Guy Ritchie’s update of the 1960s TV show. It’s not outright bad but it’s all style and no substance. Shallow is the word and since the main characters never feel like they’re in any real danger it’s hard to get excited during otherwise fairly well executed action sequences.

Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer don’t really have that much in the way of chemistry which is a problem too. Cavill in particular didn’t really work for me. Hos character is supposed to be cool as ice and aloof but many of his one-liners fell flat for me since he came off so detached. Hugh Grant is in it too but he’s famous enough that when he shows up in a seemingly innocuous role it’s easy to predict what’s going to happen next. His best one liner is spoiled in the damn trailer, and then at the end when they finally form U.N.C.L.E. he just says it and the screen goes black. It’s annoying because this movie really felt like it could have been a lot better but as is it’s just a sloppily handled bore.