Directed by Matthew Vaughn, Argylle follows Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard), an introverted spy novelist who seldom leaves her home and is drawn into the real world of espionage when the plots of her books get a little too close to the activities of a sinister underground syndicate. When Aidan (Sam Rockwell), an undercover spy, shows up to save her from being kidnapped or killed, Elly and her beloved cat Alfie are plunged into a covert world where nothing, and no one, is what it seems.
While I haven’t seen his most recent films I am familiar with some of Matthew Vaughn’s work in the past and have liked or loved a majority of it. So when this film was finally coming to theaters I decided to give it a go. I went into the theater feeling excitement, but ended up leaving the theater feeling a bit mixed about what I saw. This film is a wild rollercoaster ride that delivers a mostly great cast, fun campy entertainment, and awesomely executed action that is unfortunately weighed down by a tonally inconsistent and overly complex plot that has too many layers to it.
There was a hilariously over-the-top spy romp that was just itching to come out throughout this film but was held back due to unnecessary choices with the writing. Let’s get into what this film did right and what it did wrong.
This film features a star-studded cast that was mostly a positive highlight of the film, with each cast member delivering dedicated and fun performances to the roles they are given even if some are in it for a short while.
Leading the film is Bryce Dallas Howard as Elly Conway, who I honestly really loved in this film for both her performance and the crazy journey her character goes on. It was awesome to see Bryce be let loose in this film, showcasing a new side of acting I’ve never really seen before in past roles of hers. I wasn’t expecting to like her character as much as I did but as things progressed I ended up adoring her in this role.
Sharing the spotlight is the always reliable Sam Rockwell as Aidan, who shares unexpectedly fantastic chemistry with Bryce throughout the film, making for a truly unexpected pair-up that I never knew I needed but loved. Rockwell understood the assignment when it came to playing this character and doesn’t disappoint in being a blast every time he is onscreen alongside Bryce. I do hope these two could do more work together one day.
The supporting cast is also pretty solid with Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, and Samuel L. Jackson delivering great work for their respective characters, playing into some of the over-the-top and self-aware elements this film provides.
And then we have the fictitious spies Argylle and Wyatt played respectively by Henry Cavill and John Cena who I honestly felt were both criminally underused. These two were great in all the scenes they had, especially Henry, who does get used to some very clever sequences involving great action and editing but other than that you don’t get much of them throughout this film. Granted this is related to what goes on in the film’s story which I can understand but I honestly felt robbed of what could have been a potentially awesome unexpected duo with Cavill and Cena based on the few scenes they had together.
And on the subject of underused I also felt we got robbed a bit with Dua Lipa who instantly stole the spotlight the moment she stepped on screen but then ended up only being in the film for an extremely short amount of time when she had the potential to add a lot more.
One thing Vaughn is best known for in most of his films is delivering stellar action sequences that provide endless entertainment and thankfully he does deliver that again in this film. We get a great amount of brilliantly executed, shot, and stylized action throughout this film that I thoroughly enjoyed especially when they escalate as the film progresses. The action doesn’t take itself too seriously which in turn allows for some insanely bonkers sequences that provide solid laughs and strangely satisfying visuals that I was not expecting.
Easily my favorite sequences occur in the third act with one of them involving what I can best describe as the craziest shootout/dance scenes I have seen in a film containing visually stunning colors and plenty of laughs. These scenes are campy as hell but were honestly the most enjoyable parts of the film that made the long build-up to it worth it.
Admittedly though some of the action scenes could have looked a lot better had some of the effects used been more practical than CGI because let me tell you there were some pretty rough effects littered in this film. The music is also really solid in this film with both a good soundtrack of songs and a good score by Lorne Balfe though admittedly not as memorable compared to his previous work.
Now where things go mostly wrong comes down to the plot. Things start off good with a hilarious and intriguing premise and then we get several crazy turns that are followed up by one major twist that changes the whole story entirely. This major twist that happens in the middle portion of the film I actually liked and didn’t expect it at all. It made me really love the film and where it was going at first, but then things take a downward spiral when there are additional twists and turns piled up on top of the twists and turns that took what was mostly an easy-to-follow film into an overly complex mess that feels that it has gone too far up its own ass.
Vaughn had a lot of great things going for this film but seemingly made some incorrect choices at the last possible minute that hurt this film hugely, which sucks because I was loving a lot of what I was seeing. This film did not need to be as complex as it was and I feel it wasn’t sure what it was trying to be at times. Was it trying to be an over-the-top self-aware mindless spy flick or a clever spy flick that shocks you at every turn? I would have been fine with one or the other but instead, we got a rather clunky mash-up that wasted great potential and never knew what it had until it was gone.
And to top it all off the ending of this film confused the hell out of me. I won’t go into any spoilers but there is a final twist at the end that comes straight out of nowhere with no real build-up that left me in a completely puzzled state. And on top of that, the post-credit scene of this film adds something completely unnecessary that again made zero sense to me. I can’t tell if this post-credit scene was a purposeful choice by Vaughn or studio executives but regardless of who it was that made the choice it was the wrong one to do.
While there were certainly things in this film that I can admit I really enjoyed it all just felt anchored down by very clumsy narrative choices. Do I consider this to be an overly horrendous film as some critics will say? I don’t personally feel that it is but it definitely has glaring issues that make this film a very mixed bag for me, which is shocking given that it was from Matthew Vaughn who has done much better work than this. I have seen some people finding more enjoyment out of this film than I did so I do still encourage people to give this a look on their own time and see what they think. I’m going to give Argylle a C = 76.
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