Review: Argylle

Man, this film was way more fun than it deserved to be. Is it good? Hell no, but it earns the "I'm being fun, so I get extra points" grade. Bad writing that belongs in the trope-filled stories being written in the movie, actors wasted on what's basically joke characters, and a confusing narrative weighed down by plot contrivance and convenience. But, in that mess, there's some fun action, great actors doing their best to keep up the energy, and a clear directional style from Matthew Vaughn. So, let's review Argylle.

PLOT: The dumbest Matthew Vaughn plot since the last one.

So, this plot is about as dumb as his last movie, The King's Man, which featured Adolf Hitler as a post-credits stinger. This film does a similar thing, but I'll leave it without spoilers. That being said, the plot can be quite contrived and hard to follow as a result of unreliable narrators. The main character's involvement in the plot is hard to even understand until the third act rolls around and it becomes clear why she's here to begin with. That being said, it does flow smoothly for the most part.

CHARACTERS: Fun and snappy!

Characters in Matthew Vaughn's films are the highlights. They're always a little strange, but fun and energetic. I will say, for what it is, Bryce Dallas Howard and Henry Cavill in their respective roles are tons of fun and give great performances no matter what they're asked to do. Sam Rockwell is a favorite of mine who shows up when you want a sarcastic guy to chew the scenery and it's exactly what he does here. Bryan Cranston is an intimidating villain with lots of snark and fun to him. The only weak performances for me were John Cena and, sadly, Samuel L. Jackson. Sam didn't get enough scenes to really be enjoyable and John Cena is just kind of pointless here. They are still fun, but just never given enough to do. It's a shame, considering everyone here is having a ball.

SHOTS: A bit CGI at times, but fun!

The CGI can be a bit uncanny and distracting at times, but the camera angles in every single one of Matthew Vaughn's films is engaging and directed with purpose. It's mostly a credit to his cinematographer George Richmond, having done most of his filmography and their style just blending together to create exciting action that never leaves you bored. It's kinetic, fluid, and just pleasing enough to not be distracting! Also, the dance scene towards the end is perfection and I will not take any criticism! Thank you in advance.

SOUND: Lorne Balfe!

Lorne Balfe is a talent whose music I've loved since Megamind and, let me tell ya, he pulls off the swinging spy genre very well. It's engaging to listen to, pays homage to Bond in many places, and even shows off a bit to really emphasize the better parts of the movie. That being said, no single track particularly stuck out, but it was still enjoyable nonetheless!

WRITING: My biggest issue.

This movie really does suffer from being overwritten and crammed with too many quippy jokes tugged from the same threads off the cloth of the MCU. While snappy dialogue is charming, it does bog down the plot when twists are thrown in and never really fully explained. The part about a particular character being shot is not explained and acts more as a Chekov's gun rather than servicing the story as a whole. If this plot point was built up from the beginning, I would accept it and move on. But, as it stands, the characters tend to get away with too much and there's not enough well-written scenes to forgive any of the less than stellar plot beats that the writing fails on.

CONS:

See above, let's move on.

VERDICT: Quite a bit of fun that topples a bit towards the end.

This movie feels like a block tower, it has tons of fun colors and ideas stacked up, but, eventually, it kind of topples over into a bit of a mess. That being said, fun actors and fun camerawork make me far more forgiving of a movie's downsides than a serious movie that ends up bombing in both areas. This is a fun time at the movies and I will actively recommend it, especially to Kingsman fans out there! Stick around for the post-credits scene as well.

Review update: I kind of fell out of love with this movie. It just does not hold up on rewatch.

SCORE: Originally 6/10, now a 4/10