Argylle

Matthew Vaughn is a favourite of mine and I love the KIngsman series, but Argylle is his first big misstep so far, where even his trademarks don't work and the whole thing is just so weird and dysfunctional. A lot of the film is hampered by the fact that there is no R-rated action, if he had sprinkled some gore in there and spiced up the film with some decent humour, the whole thing would have worked a lot better, but unfortunately the casting alone isn't worth much. The most interesting acting trio of Henry Cavill, John Cena and Dua Lipa are rather just cameos, and Sam Rockwell tries his best, but I'd rather see someone else there. Bryce Dallas Howard is completely miscast for me though, as the bulge in the action doesn't work for me at all (Dua Lipa and Sofia Boutella would have been much better suited there). The plot twists are quite overwrought and none of them are very interesting or shocking, and even the action this time is not typically playful, creative and inventive, except for two quite original action scenes in the very finale – the dance using colored smoke bombs was interesting and visually nice and the oil skating was mad, but it was one of the lighter moments of the film. That said, I have to criticise the opening scene on the train, where the switching between the two actors was very annoying even to me, and it's a shame no one told Vaughn that this really isn't cool. Overall a big disappointment, but I didn't suffer, it's watchable. 55%. (06/03/2024)

Matthew Vaughn is successfully copying Zack Snyder's creative trajectory. He's not at the finish line yet, but he's getting close. A tiresome, mechanical layering of twists and turns (where no one can be able to tell if the film still makes any sense on any level by halfway through the running time at the latest) wrapped in a sometimes aesthetically repugnant package, complete with humour for first graders in elementary school. Even the acting doesn't work. As a director, Vaughn manages to give drive to at least some of the action scenes here, but far from all of them (e.g. the opening sequence on the train, switching between two actors, struck me as completely disjointed and ultimately annoying). (05/03/2024)

Author Elly Conway discovers that her spy books have more in common with reality than she thought, and that their hero, Argyle, may very well be real. But why does everyone suddenly want to kill her? Matthew Vaughn delivers another homage to spy action movies that is full of ideas and original action sequences, but this time perhaps so wild that it may be beyond tolerable for some. (01/02/2024)

It's fun, suspenseful, and seemingly a classic variation on The Man from Acapulco, but that's not the main thing. The main thing is the beautiful Bryce Dallas Howard (spoiler). This time, the marketing plays a game completely independent from the actual film. I'm really glad it's not another Kingsman: The Secret Service. Because there's only one Bob Saint-Clare. (01/02/2024)

A surprisingly uneven film that sometimes has reprehensibly little and other times too much. Bryce Dallas Howard doesn't seem believable in almost any mood (and she alternates several), while Sam Rockwell is believable as a spy who could keep up with Ethan Hunt. Matthew Vaughn tries very hard to entertain and dazzle, but the end result is almost boring, saved only with a grand finale set to the sound of a perfect symphonic version of “Now and Then”. And the ending? I was so confused I wanted to put on Tenet to calm myself. (17/02/2024)