Movie Review | Latest Spy Actioncomedy From Matthew Vaughn Not Cats Meow
Director Matthew Vaughn is clearly not ready to give up on the spy-based comedy business.
Best known for the Kingsman franchise, Vaughn followed suit with the 2021 Kingsman film The King's Man with Me Argyll.
Argyle crosses the comedy spectrum more than the Kingsman films and aims to be a thriller about a spy writer who finds himself in the human world of real-life spies.
After a while, despite the big name cast in the movie, you'll find yourself wishing you were somewhere else.
Why is Eli Conway, played by Bryce Dallas Howard, interested in a society of men and women who trade dangerous world-changing secrets? Since there are four novels (the fifth is nearing completion), the development of the plot has a parallel to the real events. So they want to know what you are going to write.
On the train to visit her mother Ruth (Catherine O'Hara), who wants to help her finish her latest work, Ellie meets a long-haired, bearded man reading one of her James Bond-style fantasy novels. Argyle spy agent (Henry Cavill). Pretending to have just realized who is sitting across from him, Aidan (Sam Rockwell) tells Ellie that there are agents on the train with warrants to search for her, and that she will have to rely on him to survive.
Ellie, with her cat Alfie in a cat-stuffed backpack, soon finds herself in constant danger as Aidan deals with threats and poor Argyll finds himself in David Leitch's 2022 version of the bullet train. "
The agents work for the notorious man who runs the shadowy spy organization The Division, Ritter (Bryan Cranston), who is fed up with the failures of those who serve him.
Ellie and Aidan's adventures continue with a trip to London, where new dangers await them. Things get complicated for Ellie when she finds reason to fear that Aidan doesn't have her best interests at heart, prompting her to meet with her parents.
Cranston (Breaking Bad) and O'Hara (Schitt's Creek) are given ample screen time, which is more than can be said for most of the other supporting players. We get quite a bit from music stars John Sinai, Samuel L. Jackson, Ariana DeBose, Richard E. Grant and Dua Lipa ("Barbie").
Handsome Cavill, the man who plays Ellie, the protagonist of the book and her fictional personal trainer, is the most important character. However, you can expect a lot from the Man of Steel and The Witch star.
This makes one of the film's promotional posters somewhat misleading: it features most of the names mentioned above, but Cavill and Lipa front and center. Hey, the movie is about a world of lies and half-truths, so anything seems fair, but remember, you're mainly watching Howard (Jurassic World) and Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri). .
This is one of Argyll's problems. The main characters don't give particularly dynamic performances, although Rockwell adds personality to Aidan, who is mostly silent and their chemistry isn't very strong.
Written by Jason Fox (Wonder Woman), Argyle has an interesting premise. However, you can get an idea of what's going to happen pretty early in the movie, at least if you rule out anything supernatural or Eli living in a computer simulation, which is a plot device that's hard to ignore these days. , and it's pretty stupid. That's not to say you'll see every little twist, but this movie doesn't show any real talent for sleight of hand.
What's particularly disappointing is the direction of Vaughn, whose notable credits include 2010's Kick-Ass and 2011's X-Men . he lets it drag on and on too long. This film is longer than the long running time of 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Vaughn and his co-stars deliver some passable action scenes and eye-popping visual effects, including a clever smoke show created by Ellie and Aidan at the end of the proceedings, but there's nothing here you haven't seen before and that's not it. it doesn't handle any better.
Argyll also has its funny moments, but these comedies, while funny at times, are rarely, if ever, very funny.
Some of those smiles come from Chip, the real-life cat of the director's wife, supermodel Claudia Vaughn (née Schiffer), who plays Alfie. Of course, if you want a spy comedy with more cats, that's a problem too.
Vaughn fans will have to watch the opening credits to learn more. Everyone else can run to the exit.
"Argyle" is rated PG-13 for violence, action and strong language. Duration: 2 hours 19 minutes.
