February 12, 2024 · Watch the official trailer
As movie studios spend exorbitant amounts of money on trailers debuting during the Super Bowl or for pushing their Oscar contenders out to a wider audience, at the same time they’re dumping on cinephiles the worst of their 2024 theatrical slate.
In the second of what Hollywood considers to be “dump months” where execs relegate completed projects that underperform at test screenings or hard to market films, there’s still a push to squeeze out every single dollar they can from the movie-going public in order to recoup losses in their budget.
Such is the case with director Matthew Vaughn’s spy comedy “Argylle,” a film with a promising premise that completely falls flat on its face by the middle of the second act and really makes viewers question whether the filmmaker behind a fun action film like “Kingsman: The Secret Service” has still got it.
“Argylle” follows a successful novelist who is unwittingly pulled into the world of international espionage as she and a spy on the run attempt to save themselves from a team of assassins while hunting down the nefarious organization behind it all.
Bryce Dallas Howard is woefully miscast in the lead role and although she has a definite fish out of water feel to her character, Howard is never truly able to draw audiences onto her side and the constant ways in which she freaks out at the events around her becomes grating the further the film progresses.
“Argylle” consistently reveals hidden twists and turns to try and keep moviegoers intrigued, but as the film unfolds, it’s even more clear that Howard can’t handle the character development Elly requires and when the lead actor is the worst part of an action film, it hinders the ability for audience buy in.
Contrarily, Sam Rockwell delivers his usual brand of wry, self-effacing charm as spy on the run Aidan. And while he does not appear at first glance to be the sort of actor meant to carry an action film, the best parts about “Argylle” lean into this fact and allow Rockwell to shine as a pseudo-ghost in plain sight and unlikely hero.
Henry Cavill does his best James Bond impression as the titular Argylle and unfortunately there’s just not enough of Cavill’s more classically charming, crisp, and sly performance that allows him to be the hero that moviegoers probably want him to be more often in cinema.
“Argylle” has a very star-studded ensemble, most of whom like Cavill are not given nearly enough to do, including John Cena as a fellow spy who could had his own spinoff, Bryan Cranston as the head of the organization chasing Elly and Aidan, and Samuel L. Jackson, who has a pivotal role in the film but zero character development that totally wastes his talents.
The best moments in “Argylle” come in the largely fun action sequences that maintain Vaughn’s kinetic, colorful style and evoke his work on “Kingsman,” “Kick-Ass,” and “X-Men: First Class,” although the quality of these scenes does not lift the overall film enough to make it a must-see in theaters.
As is the case with almost anything released this month outside of Oscar Best Picture nominees expanding theatrically, “Argylle” is perhaps best left to be a casual at-home watch on whatever streaming service the film ends up landing on.
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