Argylle Movie Review
Nathan Swank
February 2nd, 2024
A famous spy novel author becomes the target of a villainous espionage syndicate because the plot of her books continue to be a little too accurate to the sinister real world events. ARGYLLE is the latest film from director Matthew Vaughn who also brought us the KINGSMAN franchise. ARGYLLE is similar in that tone and style while lending itself as a same world possibility. While the first KINGSMAN was a bit of fun, ARGYLLE feels like a muted copy of a just okay film. Personally, I much preferred Vaughn’s early work with films like LAYER CAKE and X-MEN: FIRST CLASS.
ARGYLLE is trying extremely hard to be cool, silly, and fun entertainment. Before watching ARGYLLE, I was convinced this type of stylized, comedic, spy film should be released every year. My reasoning is at the very least it will be a fun time even in a mediocre movie. I foolishly did not take into consideration that having big stars and style does not equal a quality film and even mediocrity isn’t guaranteed.
Unsure who to trust, the recluse author (played admirably by Bryce Dallas Howard), continues to confuse her imaginary suave lead character hero, Argylle (played by the naturally charming and cool Henry Cavill), with the real life spy and much less suave, Aiden (played by the always funny Sam Rockwell). This idea and storyline is clever enough to warrant the possibility of a good time at the theater. And ARGYLLE definitely has its moments. But it fails to convert on its overly goofy and twisty premise.
The actors are pouring everything they have into their respective roles, even if Henry Cavill, Dua Lipa, John Cena, Samuel L. Jackson, Ariana DeBose have very little to do. Jackson in particular, gets paid to look at a screen and laugh, which, good on him for whatever that paycheck happens to be. The rest are simply there as star power. The main stars are Howard and Rockwell along with Alfie the cat, Brian Cranston, and Catherine O’Hara, who received a couple of my biggest laughs of the film.
Unfortunately, the material simply isn’t there. The film is wildly inconsistent. Sometimes a bit too serious in dialogue and plot explanations and far too light on the goofy silly nature that works mostly well. The needle drop music choices are seriously disappointing never matching the energy of the sometimes over the top humor or style. Even Cavill’s odd clothing style and goofy haircut doesn’t work as the ultra-cool fictional character in an already odd world. These are all purposeful choices that simply didn’t work for me. The real tragedy is that despite all the talent and fun ideas, the film is a bit boring.
Some of the over-the-top, silly action sequences are when ARGYLLE shines, but it simply is not enough to save the film. Between JOHN WICK and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movies, choreography in action sequences have been done better and even funnier. If you want a story about an author thrown into a harrowing adventure, might I recommend 1984’s ROMANCING THE STONE or even the recent 2022’s THE LOST CITY, which isn’t all that great, but still slightly more entertaining than ARGYLLE because it was 30 minutes shorter. Simply put, the film needed more Catherine O’Hara.
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