Directed by:
Matthew VaughnScreenplay:
Jason FuchsCinematography:
George RichmondComposer:
Lorne BalfeCast:
Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Henry Cavill, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cena, Catherine O'Hara, Bryan Cranston, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, Sofia Boutella (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
From the twisted mind of Matthew Vaughn comes Argylle, a razor-witted, reality-bending, globe-encircling spy thriller. Bryce Dallas Howard is Elly Conway, the reclusive author of a series of best-selling espionage novels, whose idea of bliss is a night at home with her computer and her cat, Alfie. But when the plots of Elly’s fictional books—which center on secret agent Argylle and his mission to unravel a global spy syndicate—begin to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organization, quiet evenings at home become a thing of the past. Accompanied by Aiden (Oscar® winner Sam Rockwell), a cat-allergic spy, Elly (carrying Alfie in her backpack) races across the world to stay one step ahead of the killers as the line between Elly’s fictional world and her real one begins to blur. (Universal Pictures US)
(more)Reviews (8)
Matthew Vaughn is successfully copying Zack Snyder's creative trajectory. He's not at the finish line yet, but he's getting close. A tiresome, mechanical layering of twists and turns (where no one can be able to tell if the film still makes any sense on any level by halfway through the running time at the latest) wrapped in a sometimes aesthetically repugnant package, complete with humour for first graders in elementary school. Even the acting doesn't work. As a director, Vaughn manages to give drive to at least some of the action scenes here, but far from all of them (e.g. the opening sequence on the train, switching between two actors, struck me as completely disjointed and ultimately annoying).
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Author Elly Conway discovers that her spy books have more in common with reality than she thought, and that their hero, Argyle, may very well be real. But why does everyone suddenly want to kill her? Matthew Vaughn delivers another homage to spy action movies that is full of ideas and original action sequences, but this time perhaps so wild that it may be beyond tolerable for some.
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Matthew Vaughn is a favourite of mine and I love the KIngsman series, but Argylle is his first big misstep so far, where even his trademarks don't work and the whole thing is just so weird and dysfunctional. A lot of the film is hampered by the fact that there is no R-rated action, if he had sprinkled some gore in there and spiced up the film with some decent humour, the whole thing would have worked a lot better, but unfortunately the casting alone isn't worth much. The most interesting acting trio of Henry Cavill, John Cena and Dua Lipa are rather just cameos, and Sam Rockwell tries his best, but I'd rather see someone else there. Bryce Dallas Howard is completely miscast for me though, as the bulge in the action doesn't work for me at all (Dua Lipa and Sofia Boutella would have been much better suited there). The plot twists are quite overwrought and none of them are very interesting or shocking, and even the action this time is not typically playful, creative and inventive, except for two quite original action scenes in the very finale – the dance using colored smoke bombs was interesting and visually nice and the oil skating was mad, but it was one of the lighter moments of the film. That said, I have to criticise the opening scene on the train, where the switching between the two actors was very annoying even to me, and it's a shame no one told Vaughn that this really isn't cool. Overall a big disappointment, but I didn't suffer, it's watchable. 55%.
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Skating in oil! A meta espionage action whirlwind with many incredible twists and turns. Matthew Vaughn takes the viewer for a ride on several levels and yet it's seamlessly coherent and everything makes perfect sense in the end, no matter how absurd the genre crutch. Sam Rockwell is terrific, and the train fight with the Henry Cavill shootout is brilliant. The ending is extremely over the top, colourful colour and imaginative, but I'm afraid no one but Vaughn’s hardcore fans will enjoy it. Dua Lipa in a gold dress is unreal. Unfortunately, I had a big problem with the casting of Bryce Dallas Howard, who didn't fit in at all, wWhich is a problem for obvious reasons. The with, the parody, the extreme authorial vision. I haven't seen anything like it in a long time. But Vaughn had the most fun since the first Kingsman, and it shows.
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It's fun, suspenseful, and seemingly a classic variation on The Man from Acapulco, but that's not the main thing. The main thing is the beautiful Bryce Dallas Howard (spoiler). This time, the marketing plays a game completely independent from the actual film. I'm really glad it's not another Kingsman: The Secret Service. Because there's only one Bob Saint-Clare.
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A surprisingly uneven film that sometimes has reprehensibly little and other times too much. Bryce Dallas Howard doesn't seem believable in almost any mood (and she alternates several), while Sam Rockwell is believable as a spy who could keep up with Ethan Hunt. Matthew Vaughn tries very hard to entertain and dazzle, but the end result is almost boring, saved only with a grand finale set to the sound of a perfect symphonic version of “Now and Then”. And the ending? I was so confused I wanted to put on Tenet to calm myself.
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I was expecting something like Kingsman or at least some above-par entertainment from Matthew Vaughn. I’ve liked most of his stuff so far, but this one is crap on all fronts and the more I think about it, the more flaws I find. In fact, the only thing I can fully praise are the technical and visual aspects, which (thankfully) don’t outright piss the viewer off with anything, and the beautiful face of the likeable Bryce Dallas Howard. The rest of the film, however, definitely doesn't make a dent in the world and is a bad attempt at a completely nonsensical mix of genres that initially pretends to be an action spy movie, but gradually shifts into a very dysfunctional comedy plane that makes you smile a few times, but doesn't make you laugh even once, whereupon towards the end it even turns into downright parody (skating on oil, smoke action... ), which made it lose my attention completely. Likewise, the acting aces are pretty clickbait. Henry Cavill literally doesn't even act in the film and is only there for a few seconds, and the other names like Samuel L. Jackson, Dua Lipa and John Cena are all there and don't show up for more than a few shots either. The only thing that I downright enjoyed was the brisk first half and the huge twist, which I have to give credit for a functional moment of surprise, but from then on it all goes downhill and it flounders madly somewhere between trite and boring action and unfunny humour, and when it doesn't know where to go next, the final nail in the coffin comes in the form of the aforementioned "parody of a finale", a great example of how things should not be done. The disappointment I feel is huge because I was looking forward to the combo of R-rated action and Kingsman-style humor, but here I have nothing to value at all.
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If someone had told me face-to-face that Matthew Vaughn could make a movie that would disappoint me, I would have laughed them off. Well, not anymore. This movie was bad in so many ways. The script was desperately weak, and I can't fathom why Vaughn got involved. Sure, I can see the financial appeal, but did he really think it was worth it? Apparently, he did. Initially, it felt like a rip-off of The Man from Acapulco, and I definitely enjoyed the French version more. As the story unfolded, it took a different direction, which could have been fine if I had actually enjoyed the movie. But between the digital overload and the mostly unconvincing performances (except for Sam Rockwell, who couldn’t save it alone), I just couldn't find the fun. This movie just didn’t work for me. / Lesson learned: If you want to become a secret agent, train a cat.
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