“Argylle” Review
Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) becomes wrapped up in the world of spies with a seasoned agent (Sam Rockwell) in “Argylle”, the latest spy film from director Matthew Vaughn.
When I think of filmmakers that are consistently changing how we enjoy action films, I think of people like Christopher McQuarrie, Joseph Kosinski, David Leitch, Chad Stahelski and especially Matthew Vaughn. With a penchant for creative action sequences, fun characters and a colorful style, Vaughn has consistently proven his worth as a director of fun blockbusters with titles like “Kick-Ass”, “X-Men: First Class” (my favorite of the core “X-Men” films) and the “Kingsman” series. With all of his previous films being adaptations of novels and comic books, “Argylle” is Vaughn’s first film to be completely original yet treads through familiar waters by being a spy film with a comedic tone. While not as engaging as the “Kingsman” films, “Argylle” has enough fun characters, exciting action and fresh ideas to make this a worthwhile watch.
Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a spy novelist whose critically acclaimed and commercially popular novels all focus on a fictional super spy named Agent Argylle (Henry Cavill). After releasing the fourth book in the series, Elly seeks to write her biggest and best novel yet when she finds herself targeted by assassins of a nefarious secret organization called The Division. After meeting a spy named Aidan (Sam Rockwell) who saves her life, Elly is told that the reason why these men are after her is because her novels are accurately predicting events on the world of espionage and The Division’s director (Bryan Cranston) thinks that Elly is the key to tracking down a secret drive that has every dirty deed The Division has ever done. With no safe place to go, Elly must assume the role of the spy she writes about as she and Aidan go on a global adventure to find the drive before The Division does.
While Matthew Vaughn has never taken the spy genre incredibly seriously, as seen in the strong balance of classic spy antics with modern cynicism in the “Kingsman” films, “Argylle” takes it a step further with stronger comedic leanings that naturally comes from the basic premise of the film. As Elly Conway, Bryce Dallas Howard is fantastic as this “fish-out-of-water” that is sucked into this crazy world. Conway is most definitely out of her element but what makes her such a likable protagonist is how well Howard sells her reactions because they’re well-timed and relatable. I also loved how Elly used the fictional world she created as this motivational tool. Throughout the film, Henry Cavill appears as the fictitious Argylle to help Conway suppress her anxiety and to guide her along her journey. Both Cavill and Howard’s magnetic personalities work well together and I enjoyed seeing Elly’s character evolve over the course of the film.
The film’s biggest scene stealer is Sam Rockwell who just looks like he’s having a ball every second he’s on screen. The chemistry he has with Howard as they travel the world is entertaining and I liked how the film plays around with the dynamic of a seasoned person and a fresh face being teamed up under stressful circumstances. Instead of just being a no-nonsense grump the whole time, Aidan is legitimately supportive of Elly as he tries to help her survive this mess. In addition, Rockwell injects his natural charm into the role and delivers a wonderfully quirky supporting performance.
What keeps “Argylle” fresh for me is how its main character sees things. Not only does Elly have hallucinations of Argylle, but she also imagines the scenarios of her novels, which features Cavill alongside John Cena, Ariana DeBose and Dua Lipa, to help her deduce what next steps she and Aidan should take. This idea also extends to some of the action sequences where Elly sees Aidan fighting bad guys but then she imagines Argylle in his stead, blurring the line between fiction and reality.
Besides the occasional appearance of Henry Cavill, the film’s action sequences are full of life and color with such imaginative imagery that a James Bond film or a “Mission Impossible” film could never get away with. Because the film is a ridiculous comedy, the characters can dance while they fight or use multi-colored flares as projectile weapons. There’s a fun life to the fights that keeps the film’s two-hour-and-twenty-minute runtime feeling breezy.
The practical elements of the film’s action, especially the impressive stunts, are a lot of fun but “Argylle’s” CGI effects can sometimes feel like a hindrance as opposed to an aid. A good deal of the time, even when the effects look fake, they’re still so creative that it doesn’t really come across as a disservice. However, other effects can take the audience out of the film especially the ones surrounding Alfie, Elly’s cat that becomes an unwelcome addition to the adventure in the eyes of Aidan, who is allergic. The transition from the real cat that was used on set to his CGI double is anything but seamless and was a pretty big distraction.
While the originality of the film is refreshing and I enjoy the balance of the real-life adventure with Conway’s characters, Jason Fuchs’ script does have weak points that do add up and prevent the film from reaching the heights of “X-Men: First Class” or “Kick-Ass”. There’s a plot twist that occurs halfway through that audiences are either going to like or hate. I personally enjoyed it because I felt it switched up the character dynamics in a way that was entertaining to me but I can also see it being criticized as being too convoluted. “Argylle’s” climax also has a “deus ex machina” moment that felt out of place. None of the film’s narrative issues ruined it for me, but I was thinking about how “Argylle” could have been better with another rewrite.
Overall, “Argylle” is a pretty enjoyable action film that I can see growing a decent-sized audience, especially if you enjoy Matthew Vaughn’s past films. It’s not as well-structured as it could have been but the film has too many likable elements to make me pass it over.
