Not that that is a bad thing, but the scene where the baddy tries to torture Solo felt very much like Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds. The way he turned. The soundtrack sounded much like something that Tarantino would use. There were a couple more scenes like that, the way eyes were shot sometimes (which of course Tarantino didn't invent), ...
I find it odd that Ritchie, at this point, emulates Tarantino in style, after having a unique voice for quite a while (even if that got a bit lost in the Sherlock movies).
Or am I completely wrong here and saw something that wasn't there?
Maybe the scene felt like that because both actors are German? In any event the torture scene creates the dramatic buildup so that the payoff --Rudi being burnt alive in his own chair-- comes off as both gruesome and funny. To me, it felt like what I expect Sean Connery killing a bad guy in some gruesome fashion and then following it with a quip must've felt to audiences in the 1960s when that type of thing was still a surprise.
For Ritchie's influences on THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., you're going to want to look farther afield. The two big ones are THE IPCRESS FILE and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, but also watch FUNERAL IN BERLIN, CHARADE, and Felllini's LA DOLCE VITA. Probably some other Fellini as well, but I'm not as up on his movies as others are.
"I speak Spanish to God, French to women, English to men, and Japanese to my horse."
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