Argylle review: A highly paid cast and an initially strong concept do not make this espionage film as amazing as it appeared at first sight. Matthew Vaughn’s direction has moments of style, but it lacks consistency. Inconsistent execution, undeveloped characters, and changeable tones have contributed to a frustrating story.
About Argylle
Audiences often get thrilled by spy and espionage movies because everyone wants to delve into the life of someone we rarely come across in our daily routine. We all know that a spy is an expert when it comes to disguise and deception but what if the spy himself gets deceived by people around him? That was the theme presented in Matthew Vaughn’s recent film Argylle. Nevertheless, the film does not meet expectations despite its aggressive marketing. The film repeatedly emphasizes ‘The greater the spy, the bigger the lie’ phrase without any justification throughout its narrative.
Argylle Review: Plot and Theme
In her novel Elly Conway is a writer who decided to start writing spy fiction out of passion for writing about spies which eventually turned out to be true about someone else she had never met in her life before. Consequently, The Division—a villainous spy agency—comes after Elly forcing her to face the ultimate choice between remaining silent or trying to uncover their secrets once and for all. As a result of this trip where she is also running for dear life these revelations bring up some questions among us including whether she lived an authentic or someone else’s life?
The film starts off brightly with everything going on fine with him although that changes over time making things dark then musical then finally changing into a comedy filled movie Though an interesting concept for a film, one might argue that lack of expressing themselves emotionally through script-writing annotations affected filmmakers as well as audiences.
Argylle Film Review: Execution
Vaughn sets off at full throttle right from start in which he surprisingly maintains till end; hence, it is a fast-paced action film that has some incredible stunt scenes. The film’s main selling point, its signature stylized direction by Matthew Vaughan, is mostly conspicuous by its absence. The movie opens on a high note with a fast paced action piece featuring Henry Cavill, Dua Lipa and John Cena who all make their presence felt. Nonetheless, unfortunately in the opening sequence of the picture approximately only half an hour until the end that is interesting. Towards the conclusion of the film there was this dance sequence that I think one of the most creative dances I have ever seen; Bollywood can take notes here.
Argylle Movie Review: Performances
Elly Conway/Rachel Kylle played by Bryce Dallas Howard was the main character in Argylle, and she did it well with no much problem making it look believable to the audience at least. On the other hand, Sam Rockwell was underused based on his past roles that we all know. As for Henry Cavill who featured as Argylle, Bryce’s imaginary friend who happens to be her alter ego that is not exactly an alter ego rather a creation of her memories; well just put it like this, he was there in the film though he didn’t matter but it was still good. At most, John Cena and Dua Lipa are chiefly unjust when they are depicted as main characters in posters and trailers yet they have fewer screen moments than a cat.
The stand-out performance in terms of acting came from Bryan Cranston. However bad the film appeared heading for rocks, he managed to keep his part within quirky way.
Argylle Movie Review: Direction
Although Matthew Vaughn’s initial direction in Argylle sets up a promising mood with its fast paced opening sequence that shows his characteristic stylized flair. However, as the movie goes on, the narrative slows down but struggles to keep its speed going. Vaughn’s creative touch feels like flashes in the pan with highlights such as an innovative dance scene towards the end of Act Three. Even though Bryce Dallas Howard gives a credible performance,Sam Rockwell and Henry Cavill among others seem under-utilized as actors on this production. Despite some shortcomings with this movie,Vaughn ensures that Bryan Cranston has one of his best performances which saves it from being completely lost.
Argylle ends up being a spy movie that had so many potentials but turned out to be hopeless despite its promises. The movie failed to deliver despite having an interesting story line idea coupled with cast who were perceived asstars .Ultimately ,the picture suffers from inconsistent execution, fluctuating tone and underdeveloped character. Sadly, Argylle fails to meet expectations with a rating of one and a half stars.
Watch free movies on Fmovies
