Argylle review

ARGYLLE: 

MATTHEW VAUGHN SPY FILM IS A MESS, BUT A FUN MESS! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** ½ out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES AND APPLE ORIGINAL FILMS

Ariana DeBose, Bryce Dallas Howard, Dua Lipa, Henry Cavill, Samuel L. Jackson, Sam Rockwell, and John Cena in Argylle

 

            A spy novel author discovers she’s also a fortune teller in Argylle, the new spy action-comedy film from director Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, Kingsman franchise). Despite not being that impressed by his later Kingsman films, I’ve enjoyed most of Vaughn’s work with the first Kick-Ass and Kingsman, debatably the best main-entry X-Men movie ever made with X-Men: First Class, and movies like Layer Cake and Stardust all being high-quality films that are very entertaining. 

            After the rather disappointing results of 2017’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle and 2021’s The King’s Man, I was interested in what his next non-Kingsman project would be and that would eventually come to me in the form of Argylle. The premise alone caught my attention about a novelist who unknowingly predicted the future through her spy books and finds herself in the world of espionage, this could be a really fun and creative action movie especially with Vaughn’s unique visual style. 

            After seeing it, I can say that while I found myself having a good time with Argylle and enjoying the silly nature of its concept, the movie itself is a bit of a mess. I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as what most critics are saying, but it does rank low compared to Matthew Vaughn’s other work. 

            The film follows introverted spy novelist, Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard-Spider-Man 3, The Help,Jurassic World trilogy) who had just finished writing her fifth book about her character, Agent Argylle (Henry Cavill-DC Extended Universe, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Mission: Impossible – Fallout). However, she soon discovers that everything she wrote in her novels was real and finds herself stuck in the middle of a world of spies, criminals, and espionage with the real-life Argylle stand-in, Aidan (Sam Rockwell-Moon, Iron Man 2, The Way, Way Back) guiding the way to bring down a criminal mastermind known as Ritter (Bryan Cranston-Breaking Bad, Argo, Godzilla (2014)) as the line between the real world and fictional world begins to blur. 

            The film also stars Catherine O’Hara (Beetlejuice, Home Alone 1 and 2, The Nightmare Before Christmas) as Ruth Conway, Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Star Trek Beyond, The Mummy (2017)) as Saba Al-Badr, Dua Lipa (Barbie) as LaGrange, Ariana DeBose (West Side Story (2021), Wish, I.S.S.) as Keira, Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Hitman’s Bodyguard 1 and 2) as Alfred Solomon, Richard E. Grant (Bram Stoker’s Dracula, The Iron Lady, Saltburn) as Fowler, and John Cena (The Marine, Fast & Furious franchise, Peacemaker) as Wyatt. 

            Overall, Argylle is undoubtedly entertaining with some creative action scenes and the banter between Howard and Rockwell is very amusing, but its convoluted plot and overlong runtime keep it from reaching its full potential. This is a 2 hour and 19 minute movie that could have easily shaven off 19 minutes and I’m sure the film would have flowed better. 

            I was enjoying the first half of the movie with Bryce Dallas Howard trying to process the fact that everything she wrote is real and now she’s in the middle of it. But as the film goes on and it becomes just another spy espionage movie with an overly complex storyline, it’s nowhere near as interesting or engaging as that first half. 

            There were times where the movie reminded me of the Sandra Bullock/Channing Tatum film, The Lost Citywhich is another movie where a novelist gets thrusted into a grand adventure similar to her books. But that movie had a much tighter narrative that lived up to its absurd premise whereas with this, the premise is delightfully absurd and there are enjoyable elements in it, but the plot feels like it’s trying to do too many things at once to the point where it doesn’t really keep your attention all the way through. 

            With that said, there are aspects of the film done extremely well most notably the dynamic between Bryce Dallas Howard and Sam Rockwell. I found the banter between them very funny, both have strong comedic delivery, and there’s even a humorous homage to Howard’s character from the Jurassic World movies that was probably the funniest joke in the movie. 

Rockwell in particular gives probably his most charismatic and outrageous performances of his career in this movie and is a huge standout. Just about everything he says in the film not only made me laugh but made me laugh hard. 

Bryan Cranston is also having a ball as this over-the-top criminal mastermind with a shotgun on his mantle named Clementine. There’s also a twist surrounding his character that I honestly didn’t see coming and found very effective. 

Given that this is a Matthew Vaughn production, the action is very adrenaline pumping and stylized like a fun car chase at the beginning of the movie and the entire train sequence shown in the trailers that encompasses Kingsmanand Bullet Train energy. There’s even a whole action scene involving figure skating that’s easily the most ridiculous and creative sequence in the film. 

 The soundtrack is also fantastic with a mix of disco music, a secret Beatles song, and Ariana DeBose songs that highlight the film’s spy movie tone and makes the action scenes more energetic. To the point where I want to seek out every song featured in the movie on iTunes because damn, this is such an amazing soundtrack. 

Argylle may not entirely live up to its silly premise as it does overcomplicate its story, but its excellent cast, thrilling action, phenomenal soundtrack, and tongue-in-cheek humor make it a decent-enough watch. If you can catch a matinee show or on your local theater’s discount day this ain’t a bad time-waster, otherwise I’d recommend just waiting for Apple TV+.