Argylle Review

Who is the illusive Argylle? Well, the answer depends upon what you're looking for, dear viewer. If you are a Henry Cavill fan, you are going to be disappointed with how little he has to do. If, however, you are a fan of silly movies and are willing to dive in head first and unquestioningly into them, well, you're in for a treat.

Argylle is arguably Matthew Vaughn's most polarising work yet. The director, known for making the best X-Men movie without Wolverine / Hugh Jackman in a starring role, has been putting together a slew of slick and stylistic spy/thriller/comedy concoctions set in the world of Kingsmen since 2014.

Suave spy Argylle (Henry Cavill) is out on the hunt for his nemesis LaGrange (Dua Lipa), aided by his partner-in-crime Wyatt (John Cena).

Well, not quite, since Argylle is the fictitious creation of reclusive author Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard). She often tries to think what Argylle would do in a given situation in real life, as we're given a glimpse into how writers think of their characters - inserting him into her day-to-day interactions and incorporating her research into perceived dangerous scenarios. Conway, unfortunately, is going to find out the hard way what it means to be on the run as a spy when her books' plots start to come alive in real life.

Getting into Argylle is going to require a heavy amount of immersion - it is the kind of stylised, camp spy comedy that almost veers into cartoonish territory due to the sheer amount of frivolity involved. What really sells it is the earnestness with which the movie dives into its goofiness - we expect the suspension of disbelief to shatter at any point, but somehow it marches on, intact.

Honestly, I could very well be harsher to Argylle and write a negative review. I could go on and on about its 139-minute running time when two hours would have been plenty and more. I could bitch about its lack of originality and it being chock full of every spy thriller / buddy comedy trope under the sun. I could bitch about that scene (trust me, you will know when watching it) because I could barely see the action and because smoke grenades are seldom electric blue or bright pink.

But I will do none of that because it would be a disservice to the enjoyment I derived from it. Argylle has one goal - to entertain - and it lets itself do anything in order to reach that goal. Twist after twist after twist it goes - some workable that you can figure out, some sprung upon you, and one that genuinely took me by surprise. In today's day and age when most big-budget entertainers play it safe by being derivative and we lament the lack of originality, it is quite fun to see a movie that at least manages to surprise you from within its own box, clichés and all.

Despite the quite blatant bait-and-switch tactic that Argylle has going on with its promotional posters, the performances are quite fun to watch. The lead duo seems to be having a blast, and both the best moments of Argylle come in the second half towards the end in stylistic set-pieces featuring the two of them. Sam Rockwell is surprisingly the standout with his on-point comic timing, with his train sequence feeling a very direct homage paid to Brad Pitt's character in another very fun movie.

The visuals are the one place where Argylle feels somewhat of a letdown, with some CGI scenes being the special offenders. It is still relatively well-done, but noticing CGI issues in a world where good CGI just blends into the movie enough to become the norm is a problem by itself. Not so with the soundtrack, though - Lorne Balfe's music is both very fun and very consistent with the movie tonally.

Sequel bait is all but a foregone conclusion in most mainstream movies, and Argylle is no exception. That's not a bad thing, per se - we could do much worse than a Kingsman universe. I'll reiterate something I have written about other movies in the past - the purpose of a mainstream entertainer is to entertain, everything else is secondary. C'est la vie.