Argylle

4 outta 5

Argylle, from director Matthew Vaughn of Kingsman fame, is very much tonally and stylistically like that film. Although, this is like an under-18 rating version with less graphic violence and little profanity. The plot is fun if intentionally very dopey with goofy and unbelievable twists. It is also very amusing with some great zingers and fun performances and over-the-top action. It is knowingly dumb and silly and while it may miss the splatter of the Kingsman movies, it certainly fits in that mold.

Elly (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a successful spy novel writer of the Argylle series. Her spy characters, Agent Argylle (Henry Cavill) and Wyatt (John Cena), travel around the globe in her mind’s eye, although she is stuck on her next novel, much to the consternation of her mother, Ruth (Catherine O’Hara). On her train trip back to see her mom, Elly runs into Adian (Sam Rockwell) who is a real spy. The experience is so jarring that Elly sees Adian appearing to her as Argylle in moments. It turns out that Elly’s novels have predicted multiple instances of spy shenanigans and has attracted the attention of an international crime ring known as the Division, led by Director Ritter (Bryan Cranston). Now on the run with Adian and her cat, Alfie, Elly tries to dodge assassins and is looking for salvation. But the conspiracy behind Elly’s life may run even deeper than she realizes.

The movie dips in and out of reality for fantastical sequences where it shows the point of view inside the Argylle novels. There’s a banger opening scene where Agent Argylle has a confrontation with a super-spy, Lagrange (Dua Lipa) that leans heavily into the James Bond movie aesthetic and features neat twists. And the action gets bonkers, featuring hilarious bits from Cena as Wyatt, a big burly guy who just wants to sip his coffee instead of jumping into action. Like a lot of Vaughn’s action scenes, it tips into parody with extended and unrealistic bits. It is exceptionally silly but knowingly so.

Cavill’s superspy is like James Bond x100, and Cavill uses his natural accent once. The cartoonish excess makes crashing back to Elly’s mundane reality hit harder. There is a bit of a misstep where Alfie the cat is meant to be like a connection to her real world, but since the cat is mostly a CGI figure that looks rather false, it breaks the reality of the scene. However, Howard manages to convey that she loves the cat, fake looking as it may be. There’s one bit where the cat is dropped off a roof for a good shock and it is transported in sort of a bubble backpack where its head is peeking out for a funny visual.

As Cavill’s spy is so slick, Adian’s spy comes off as a schlub who isn’t as glamorous as Elly envisions spy work to be. And when Adian admits he’s a spy, Elly starts to see Argylle in his place and there’s some fun point of view from Elly seeing it swap between Adian and Argylle. Cavill comes off as smoother and winking mid action when Adian is thrown about unglamorously. The plot of the film, that Elly must write more of her books so the devious organization can discover secrets, is bizarre. However, there is an exposition dump about halfway through, provided by Samuel L. Jackson as another super-spy, that makes dopey yet logical sense. There are a few moments where some absurd things happen and Adian points out how stupid it is, which is great as Rockwell does annoyed perfectly. He has a bunch of great quips throughout as he seems exceptionally irritated that Elly can’t figure out what is happening. Howard gets to go through a few different versions of her character and has standout moments in the finale. There’s a scene near the end when Adian and Elly are shooting down goons and it’s like a colourful dance. And one bit involved “skating” on a room full of oil with knives stuck on combat boots that is absurdly over the top.

As the head of the evil organization, Cranston growls but he’s good at that, and he’s part of an awesome twist. Same with O’Hara as the mom seems like a standard character type until everything gets upended. The big twist is so silly it is kind of great. A lot of the film is just an excuse for director Vaughn to make large action, and while some of it starts to look like CGI fakery, it has a comic book sensibility. This is not a movie that is meant to be taken realistically but it may be off-putting how absurd it gets. The action moves along at a brisk clip to keep it lively. The finale features mind control trickery, and it tries to give some emotional heft to the relationship between Adian and Elly. It mostly works. And there’s a mid-credits scene that ties it back into some of Vaughn’s other movies. Argylle is an enjoyable and big action movie that may be a bit too weird to accept some of the dumber twists, but it is a good time.