The agent moves and the spy markers get a good run when the director behind the similar Kingsman films gets to frolic with big, well-known names for just over two hours.
Director Matthew Vaughn has made several such James Bond-ish silly films, where the Mission: Impossible series is also obviously a big inspiration. This time he has names like Henry Cavill, Bryce Dalles Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Samuel L. Jackson and Catherine O’Hara in the lead roles. In addition, it has been shown to utilize additional well-known names, such as Dua Lipa, John Cena and Ariana DeBose in supporting roles.
Elly Conway is a successful author of the books about the spy agent Argylle. She lives a secluded and modest life, but suddenly discovers that the action in her books is confusingly beginning to resemble more and more a real spy organization. From now on, Elly’s life will not be quite the same, because a hidden past is coming to light more and more…
Samuel L. Jackson loves to read fairy tales to his guests. Preferably standing… (©United International Pictures)
Argylle is a film that is easy to be attracted to, both because of the star names, the director and the packaging. It treads in relatively well-known tracks, and becomes a type of experience that feels quite safe to bet on, both for those involved and for us, the audience.
There is, however, something plastic, simple and frivolous about this production which becomes extra striking due to the long playing time. Here, things drag out in long, semi-boring scenes, and where the two flirtatious couple Elley and Aiden (Sam Rockwell) in the center go on for a long time. But it feels a little worn out, seen-it-better-before, and it really becomes most tiring to watch these two navigate between twisters and turns that rarely just give us goosebumps.
Sam Rockwell and Bryce Dallas Howard play tourists. (©United International Pictures.)
For Argy indeed occasionally flashes with directly captivating surprises and individual scenes, but it mainly relies on well-known spy and agent movie clichés and their reuse. It is also to a far too large extent soaked in silly CGI, which you can certainly understand that they have taken advantage of, but then it is stupid that the script is not funnier and more catchy than it is after all along the way. It relies on a type of humor that is obvious and “now you’re going to laugh, ass!”, which experienced eyes can unfortunately easily detect.
For Argy will therefore be a bit of a meeeh experience that will probably please younger and inexperienced viewers the most. The rest of us alternately sit and get annoyed at the loudness of the entire production, where more quirkiness, quirky personality, more pointed and stinging genre and self-irony, could have lifted this up a notch. Instead, we get a bunch of fight scenes, but not a drop of blood, a lot of use of CGI and green screen, sleazy humor and tiringly drawn-out individual scenes. But… some people probably like it too, say.