Argylle (2024)

Argylle was the first big film that I wanted to see at the cinema in 2024 and despite some of the negative reviews that I had heard about, I actually enjoyed this. The film follows Elly who is an author who is using plot point from moments in her life even though at the beginning she doesn’t remember them. Over the course of the movie we learn what is going on; and how people close to her are responsible for the secret that Elly has been unknowingly surpressing.

I thought that Bryce Dallas Howard was very likeable as Elly. Even when the twist is revealed and we learn that she is in fact a spy I still enjoyed where the film was going. I did think that the whole skating on oil and shooting people did seem a bit over the top but the film at this point was a bit over the top. I like Sam Rockwell in pretty much anything I have seen him in but I have to admit that I thought he was miscast in this and was probably the weakest part of the film and I take zero pride in writing that. He gives it a good go but I think he just doesn’t pull of a tough spy.

Henry Cavill was perfectly cast as Argylle and plays the role perfectly because it’s clearly suppose to be a parody of Bond but manages to make it seem distinct enough and whilst I wouldn’t go so far as to say I would pay or want to see a full length movie with him its still a very good performance from the guy once tipped to play Bond in 2006. Dua Lipa was cast partly I suspect because she’s attractive and popular with the target audience and whilst she is attractive she cannot act at all. It’s like what an acting performance would be like if Matthew Vaughn asked AI to come up with a performance. Thankfully she is in only the first 5 minutes or so. As is John Cena but I think John Cena is a good actor (generally) so it would have been nice to see more of him.

The performances of Samuel L Jackson and Bryan Cranston were really good and Cranston in particular seemed to be having fun as the baddie and seemed to show us how good a villain he could have been in the 2012 Total Recall remake had he been allowed. 

Argylle is a better film than most people are giving it credit for. It’s a fun film that a good plot, some good performances and the film never outstayed its welcome. One of my bugbears about modern films isn’t that they usually could lose anything between 15-45 minutes depending on the film but Argylle is a the rare example of being the right length. One of the better Matthew Vaughn films and maybe even better than Kingsman because at least the laddish moments that blighted that film were missing from this movie.