By Chad W. Shreeves

One of the first major movies of 2024 has finally arrived, and Director Matthew Vaughn of ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ fame brings a new twisty spy thriller. But is it worth watching? Our Review Below:

Argylle
Rated PG-13
Directed By: Matthew Vaughn
Written By: Jason Fuchs
Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Henry Cavill, Bryan Cranston, Dua Lipa, John Cena, Ariana DeBose, Samuel L. Jackson, Catherine O’Hara
Running Time: 2 Hours 20 Minutes
Available On: Exclusively In Theaters

NOTE: While it is my intention to avoid some of the major spoilers regarding this film, some may inadvertently slip out.

‘Argylle’ is absolutely stacked with talent, and one of its biggest strengths is how every member of its giant staff commits to its premise. It’s a movie that promises to upend its genre constraints and promises to create its own franchise in the process. If only it wasn’t so disappointing.

The film centers around writer’s block stricken Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard), who tries to find the next chapter for her hugely popular book series. When she ends up getting entangled with real life spy Aidan (Sam Rockwell) who ends up protecting her from a rogue government agency coming after her for accidentally revealing the truth about their operation. It’s an interesting premise to be sure, even if this story has been covered before.

The Good

That’s not to say ‘Argylle’ is a complete waste of time. In fact, there’s plenty to be excited about with the film. When it’s firing on all cylinders, there’s a lot of entertainment to be found. Director Matthew Vaughn has always been known for his over the top style, and this film delivers it in spades.

From the opening car chase sequence set in Greece to the film’s final moments, ‘Argylle’ never takes itself seriously and does decide to have fun with it. It definitely follows in the line of the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise in that regards.

And the cast is stacked. Bryce Dallas Howard leads this ensemble and, in all regards, is great at it. As she plays an anxiety ridden writer who gets tangled up in her own spy escapade, she chews up the screen with every scene she’s in and does indeed sell it. And as a supporting man, Sam Rockwell delivers in all categories. He knows when to be comedic, when to deliver those great action shots, and really has a great presence as well.

Even the supporting cast does a great job with what they’re given. Samuel L. Jackson has a small but important role that he definitely tries his best at. Bryan Cranston pulls of a deliciously evil villain. And Catherine O’Hara as well really steals the spotlight whenever she’s on screen as well. Given the script’s problems (we’ll get to that in a second), it’s a real credit to the cast’s strengths they’re able to pull off as good of a job as they did.

And Henry Cavill steals every moment he’s briefly in. His super spy Agent Argylle really delivers in every regards and it’s a shame he’s not as prominent in the film as he was in the marketing.

And the action, while it can be a little hit or miss, tends to fall on the side of hit. Particularly in the film’s earliest moments, there’s some wonderful stunt work and action choreography that can help to propel the film forward.

There’s also some great humorous moments in the film as well. Some moments fell really well earned and hit all the comedic beats they need. Not every joke lands, but the ones that do really elevate the script.

The Bad

At the end of the day, ‘Argylle’ is an unfortunate mess of a film. Despite an interesting premise and some stellar performances all around, the film never really delivers.

A lot of those problems come down to the writing. This is a movie that feels so obsessed with shocking audiences with twists every few minutes it starts to feel cliche by the time the climax of the film happens. And a movie like this typically does hinge on some big reveal that “Changes Everything” in the film’s third act, it’s true. The problem is, ‘Argylle’ does one of those “This changes everything” plot twists five different times throughout its runtime. A good plot twist needs to feel earned, which this film runs out of by the halfway point.

The film is also way too long. This film could have been a solid 40 minutes shorter and would have been more engaging. There are sequences that felt like they dragged on way longer than they should have and it just feels so overstuffed that a lot of the side content and filler could have been left out to give a tighter film. There are moments of this movie that feel like they took an outline for a high budget 10 episode streaming series and crammed it into a 140 minute run time.

While mentioned above there are some stellar action sequences, and indeed there are, there are some in the film that are…less so. There’s a car chase sequence in the film that feels like it was ripped right off the pages of a ‘Fast and Furious’ script in its level of ridiculousness and absurdity it starts to feel silly. And a couple of the ending combat sequences…without spoiling much, there’s an element that feels so overly choreographed and overly stylized that it just never feels grounded or any semblance of reality. It’s fiction, we know, but films like this usually work best when they at least have a couple toes dipped into the pool of realism.

The Verdict

Despite a wonderful cast, all of which put their best feet forward, the film never earns its potential and fails to deliver a satisfying spy experience. There are absolutely some moments of the film that are going to please people, but ultimately this felt like a great idea that failed in the execution.

Pros:

• Great Acting From Everyone
• Bryce Dallas Howard Proves An Excellent Lead
• Some Entertaining Action Set pieces
• Some Fun Comedic Moments

Cons:

• Overly Reliant On Twists, And Too Many At That
• Drags On Way Longer Than It Needs To Be
• Yet Still Overstuffed
• Overly Ridiculous Action Pieces

Final Score:
2 / 5 Disappointing

‘Argylle’ is currently exclusively in theaters, and is expected to premiere on Apple TV+ in the near future.

What did you think of ‘Argylle’? Sound off on the comments below!

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