Matthew Vaughn, he’s an interesting director. He’s brought us the Kingsman films, one of the best X-Men films in the shape of X-Men: First Class and my personal favourite Stardust. Now he’s heading further into the spy genre with Argylle.
Starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell and Brian Cranston, Argylle follows Elly Conway (Dallas Howard). She’s a famous author who pens much-adored spy novels following her auspicious spy Argylle (played by Henry Cavill). One day while trying to visit her mom Elly bumps into Aiden (Sam Rockwell) who turns out to be a spy who has been tasked to protect her from the despicable Division.
I wanted to enjoy Argylle so much. It has so many elements going for it. I love Matthew Vaughn’s work. There are few films of his that I don’t like. Unfortunately, Argylle is one of the poor ones. It starts off strong with a great introduction to this world with Elly being a wonderfully charming protagonist. Then she meets Aiden and he just throws her and the narrative off-kilter in such an impressive fashion. The best part of the film is this scene when they first meet. The fight choreography is stellar, the cinematography of what Elly is imagining and what she is actually seeing is thoroughly engaging.
The spy element of it all though is, unfortunately, played out. This film is a mish-mash of much better films. I can’t tell you what these films are because if I do you’ll figure out the major twists in this film.
Worst of all, the film goes on for way too long. At 2 hours 20 minutes, it outstays its welcome by about 30 minutes. I liked the first half of the narrative but I found myself falling out of love with it as the film trudged along in its second half.
What I did like was the chemistry between Elly and Aiden. They’re so sweet together and this is down to both actors being a lot of fun in their respective roles. Whenever Rockwell shows up in a film I think he’ll always own it and it’s the same here. Bryce Dallas Howard, someone I don’t see enough is charming as Elly. Watching her react to this bonkers world she’s found herself in is great fun.
Ultimately, Argylle is a frustrating film. For everything positive I could say, there are two negatives. Vaughn is starting to get stuck in his own world and he’s losing a lot of what made him such a great director to watch.
Stay tuned to Scannain for more news, reviews and interviews.