Argylle Review A Lengthy, Twisty Yarn
If director Matthew Vaughn and star Henry Cavill think they've been overlooked as candidates for an official James Bond series, they shot the opening scenes of Argylle to prove they've got it. He lures sleazy Officer Argyll (Cavill) to a private club, dances a bit with a femme fatale (Dua Lipa) before running away, and pursues a nearby but highly inappropriate car through the local streets. almost anything to watch. Bad jokes, inappropriate dancing, lots of shooting and even a comedian in the form of John Cena, Felix Leiter's American sidekick.
is a mandatory word
All the trailers have given it away, so it's no spoiler to say that the Bond series is a fantasy based on a book Ellie Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is still writing. Vaughn could play 007 if he wanted to, but he prefers subversion. There is a slight element of Romancing the Stone in the opening and what happens to the lady. As Conway embarks on a world-class surreal spy drama. His books seem to predict global events in the occult community. Now, both good and bad guys need to know what the coming end is going to be so they can theoretically plan when it will happen like everyone else.
He takes Aidan (Sam Rockwell), a real-life spy with a seemingly similar fighting style, not Argyll, on an adventure. As Ellie watches him fight the assassins, she blinks regularly and sees Argyle doing it in a rather awkward montage. Argyle's face appeared once more with important advice. If Aidan's train fight isn't comparable to Mission: Impossible and Tom Cruise, it isn't. It doesn't even try to be; Where Cruise insists on doing realistic stunts, Rockwell clearly does them against altered, digitally-assisted backdrops. And it involves opening and closing a bathroom door that owes a debt to David Pumpkins' SNL sketch "Haunted Elevator."
Loving stoned people
The fact that Rockwell is here as Michael Douglas means that he and Howard will eventually be romantic, and well... let's just say they're a better comedy than the couple in the love scene. They both manage to make their characters believable in the film's most dire situations, but the film (and their chemistry or lack thereof) doesn't give them any earthly reason to be together, nor much incentive to keep it that way. Maybe it's Alfie the cat's fault: introduce him to a cute cat and we'll do more than just a casual encounter. Why do we want him to be Alfie's cat dad when Aidan says he doesn't like cats?
There's more to this movie: Writers Vaughn and Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman) have a penchant for plot twists that suddenly require major detours but are ultimately justified. When this happens, you can either laugh at their bravery or despise their reward. Unfortunately, you can also yawn between big yawns. Vaughn's pacing is uneven, with too many breaks between key points and clumsy editing that draws negative attention. The length of the film is 2 hours and 19 minutes, about 30 minutes of which could easily be cut. For those of you waiting to go to the bathroom, let's say this: every time someone starts dancing, stay in your seat until they're done. It's not a ballet, but Vaughn likes to set his elegant physical comedy to music.
Our trick
It would be nice to reveal too much about the characters some of the actors are playing, but Bryan Cranston and Catherine O'Hara are cast in unusual roles, Ariana DeBose plays a boy, and Samuel L. Jackson looks like he's signed. getting paid to watch basketball most of the time. Unfortunately, Cena's character is fictional (again, all the trailers gave that away), and unlike Argylle, he doesn't appear in footage very often. But if all goes well, fans are expected to demand a legitimate Cavill-Cena action film.
However, to understand how valuable Howard is as a hero here, we can compare Argylle with the Kingsman trilogy, full of cynicism and playfulness under the guise of cruel humor. Elly is a sensitive, charming, imaginative, insecure and recognizable person in a sea of false characters. Even when he undergoes a personality change at the end of the game, his humanity never fades. Vaughn hasn't shown this much heart since his starring role in X-Men: First Class, where the actors played existing characters. He tends to feel more comfortable with savants like Rockwell's Aidan, but he's not hindered when working with actors like X-Men's Howard or Jennifer Lawrence, who at least bring more to the table.
There's a mid-credits scene that leads to an unlikely sequel that raises more questions than answers. Like most of Argylle, it was too much. That being said, parts of the movie are a lot of fun, but probably best enjoyed at home with a bathroom break and some improv.
Score: 2.5/5
Argylle opens in theaters on Friday, February 2.
