Argylle Movie Review: Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell and Henry Cavill's Spy Games Get Lost in Matthew Vaughn's Over-Convoluted Plot (LatestLY Exclusive)

Argylle Movie Review: Matthew Vaughn's Argylle, perhaps, has the most deceptive marketing strategy in recent times. Putting Henry Cavill, John Cena and Dua Lipa in the centre of the promotional strategies for what hardly amount to be cameo roles, you can hardly accuse Argylle of not surprising you from the word 'go'. The thing is, if I tweak an old proverb for the sake of my argument here, Argylle simply suffers from what I can say: 'Too many surprises spoil the chutzpah'. Argylle Review: Henry Cavill and Dua Lipa’s Spy Action Film Fails to Impress Critics; Matthew Vaughn Directorial Gets Labelled as ‘Shoddy’.

What's Argylle About?

Elle Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a successful novelist of spy books, where her central character is a fictional master spy named Argylle (Henry Cavill). While nearly done with her fifth book, Elle just can't get a good enough climax and ends it on a cliffhanger. Her mother Ruth (Catherine O'Hara) calls it a 'cop out' and asks her not to fool her fans and give them the ending they deserve. Thinking of how to write it out, Elle takes a train to meet her parents, but on the way, she is accosted by an actual spy, Aidan Wilde (Sam Rockwell), who saves her from an attack from mysterious, violent agents.

Wilde tells her that her novels are somehow reflecting real-life events, including the treachery of an intelligence agency called Division going rogue. This Division is led by a ruthless mastermind called Ritter (Bryan Cranston), who is after a master file that contains all their nefarious activities. Interestingly, Elle's novel is also stuck at a point where Argylle is seeking out the same file to expose his duplicitous superiors. So now both Wilde and Ritter want her to use her imagination to figure out where the actual master file is hidden.

Watch the Trailer of Argylle:

Campy Fun At Start...

Okay, if you found this above plot to sound ludicrous and yet fascinating, well, you know how Matthew Vaughn's films work - see Kingsman movies, for example. And Argylle starts off in a fun manner, too, even if it covers beats we are too familiar with. The (fictional) opening sequence that riffs James Bond movies was cheeky, though you can argue Henry Cavill (and his distracting haircut) nudges it towards the underrated The Man From UNCLE territory. Even when the film entered the 'real world' where we meet Elle, it was interesting to see how it has this entertaining take on an author bringing her character to life and making her words his own (a nicely edited shot of the camera zooming in towards Cavill's lips to zoom out on Howard's). The fun vibe gets stronger with the arrival of an always-delightful to watch, Rockwell.

Again, the track that Argylle follows here isn't anything novel - does anyone remember Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum's The Lost City - but the actors, the humour and some action beats do keep things lively. The fight scene in the train is well-choreographed, with Rockwell proving to be an action star Hollywood hasn't yet capitalised on, made more interesting when Elle begins to hallucinate Argylle in his place.

However, after the film was done and dusted, I looked back at this scene and felt that some of it didn't make much sense. Wilde really shouldn't have reminded Elle of Argylle, and Elle should have been much more than a damsel in distress there (if you believe in muscle reflex theory. Was it just so that the movie could find reasons to add more of Cavill in here? I wish I could explain myself more on this, but for SPOILER's sake, I won't.

Convoluted Mess In the End...

Anyway, despite the farcicality of where the plot is heading, I was left intrigued about how Argylle will mesh Elle's real-meets-fiction conundrum and what the purpose of the casting of the inimitable Bryan Cranston would serve here. If nothing, there was always that cute CGI tabby Alfie to get some giggles on.

When the film dropped a major twist mid-way, it was definitely bonkers, but then, unfortunately, Vaughn didn't stop there. He piles on more and more twists, which become a bit too much and also become pretty predictable once you get over the shock of the first one. The plot becomes a convoluted mess by then. What started off as a cousin of The Lost City has now begun reminding me of another film, which, again, I cannot name for spoilers' sake, but it did star a certain Mr Affleck and was directed by a certain Mr Rodriguez. And it's not a good one. Go figure...

It also doesn't help matters that Argylle begins to take itself a bit too seriously while ditching the whole Argylle fictional track. It even harps on a Wilde-Conway romance, but even though both the actors are good in their roles, the chemistry simply isn't there. The runtime of the movie is another dampener; Argylle should have been cut short by 40 minutes. The King’s Man Movie Review: Ralph Fiennes' Messy Prequel Lacks the Roguish Charm of Previous Kingsman Movies.

Just More Convulsions

The over-blown finale is quite a mixed bag like the rest of the film. For the positives, Bryce Dallas Howard is quite a cracker in the third act, and the action sequences continue to spark excitement, particularly a skating sequence that involves crude oil and knives. But the finale is way too stretched, the antagonists are dealt with in the most ordinary manner, and the CGI used is simply subpar. Matthew Vaughn wanted Argylle to embrace the spirit of his Kingsman movies (and later, you will get why), but seeing how that franchise kept struggling after the first film, that wasn't such a cool idea after all. By the time a dead character predictably returned to life, I was like, 'Dude, why so late?'

But wait! Matthew Vaughn isn't done with the twists yet, even promising you an expanded universe. Oh, Marvel, what have you done?

Final Thoughts on Argylle

Argylle falls prey to its own excesses. While Matthew Vaughn's signature style infuses sporadic bursts of exhilarating action and humour, the film ultimately succumbs to an overstuffed, overstretched plot and frequent misguided shifts in tone.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 02, 2024 04:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).