Quentin Tarantino Calls Henry Cavill Fantastic — In a Movie He Loathes

Quentin Tarantino once did that very Tarantino thing: he hyped Henry Cavill to the moon and then torched the movie around him. The film in question is Guy Ritchie’s 60s spy romp The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and his old comments line up pretty neatly with how that movie has aged — stylish, funny, a little hollow, and the reason people keep bringing up Cavill as a legit Bond candidate.

Tarantino vs. U.N.C.L.E. (2015 flashback)

Back in 2015, during a chat with Bret Easton Ellis for T Magazine, Tarantino praised the movie’s first half and then said the wheels kind of flew off once the plot started taking itself seriously.

"The first half was really funny and terrific. But in the whole second half I’m like, 'Oh, wait a minute, we were supposed to care about the bomb? What the f*** is going on here? I was supposed to pay attention to the stupid story?'"

He also raved about Cavill — called him "fantastic" — and then took a swipe at Alicia Vikander’s character, saying he didn’t like "the girl" at all. The movie teams Cavill with Armie Hammer and Vikander, with Elizabeth Debicki eating scenery as the villain, and Ritchie leaning hard into glossy, swingin’-60s style.

Was he wrong? Not really — critics were split too

If you remember the release, the reaction was pretty divided. A lot of reviewers said exactly what Tarantino did: the movie looks great, the banter pops, but the tension fizzles when the actual plot kicks in. Others have come around to it over time — it’s quietly picked up a following — but the general vibe still reads as style-over-substance by design. Which, honestly, is part of the charm if you’re not expecting a bleak espionage pressure cooker.

• Title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
• Director: Guy Ritchie
• Genre: Spy, action, comedy
• Main cast: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki
• Rotten Tomatoes: 68% critics, 73% audience

The Cavill of it all (aka: why people keep yelling "Bond!")

Whatever you think of the movie, Cavill absolutely snaps into a different gear here. If you only know him as Snyder’s stoic Superman, U.N.C.L.E. is the proof-of-concept for the other thing he does so well: smooth, witty, unbothered, and very, very charming. Ritchie lets him be playful — and he’s funny without mugging for it.

That’s why the Bond chatter never dies. Cavill actually auditioned back when the role went to Daniel Craig, and now that Craig’s run is over, his name jumps right back to the top of fan lists. There’s been talk that Denis Villeneuve might go hunting for 007 after he wraps Dune: Part Three, but quick reality check: Bond casting is EON’s call (Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson), and the word for a while has been they want a fresh face from the British Isles in the late-20s-to-early-30s range. Cavill is British, yes, but he’s also firmly in his 40s and very established.

Should they ignore those age/recognition guidelines and hand him the tux anyway? If the brief is 'suave with a twinkle,' U.N.C.L.E. is basically his audition tape.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is streaming on Netflix in the U.S.