Argylle

This weekend, Argylle, the newest film from Matthew Vaughn releases in theaters. Argylle follows spy novelist Elly Conway as she is pulled into the world of her books when she finds out that the stuff she writes actually happens. As Elly gets deeper into this world of spies, she learns that everything may not be what it seems. This was one of my most anticipated movies of the year and I am a big fan of spy movies so I was very excited to see how this film was going to turn out.

In general, this movie was a lot of fun. This movie is unashamedly campy and goofy and just goes all in with it. This movie does a great job of paying homage to various spy films while also still doing its own thing. The cast is very fun in this movie as well with a lot of high-profile actors such as Henry Cavil, John Cena, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, and Samuel L Jackson. All of the characters are a lot of fun and go all in with the over-the-top performances. This movie also surprised me with all of its unexpected moments. There were a lot of twists and turns throughout the runtime that really made the movie more than just a typical spy film. I also enjoyed the movie kept things light with a lot of high energy. The movie never really slows down and just has so many high-energy colorful sequences. The best thing about the movie was all of the action sequences. Matthew Vaughn has a unique spin to the action sequences with a lot of colorful moments with fun songs in the background. There is a particularly fun action sequence towards the end of the movie that is probably the best scene in the movie with a very colorful action sequence.

While this movie is fun, I do have some issues with it. The biggest issue is that I felt the movie gets a little too over the top and goofy in the second half of the film. It felt like Matthew Vaughn just went with every weird idea he could come up with without anyone really holding him back. It gets to the point that the movie almost feels spoof or parody-like with just how goofy it gets. Some several reveals and sequences just feel a little too dumb and don't make much sense. I also felt like the ending and mid-credits scene didn't make a lot of sense. I knew the movie was trying to set up something but it was not clear what that was or how it is even possible based on how the movie resolved. I was on board for maybe two-thirds of the movie but the last third was just a bit much. Finally, I felt the villain organization was not very well done. It is not clear why our heroes are going against them or what their goal is. All the movie really establishes is that The Directive is bad but never really says why.

Overall, while this is not a great movie, it is still a lot of fun. It just goes a little too far at times and gets a little too convoluted on what is going on.

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B- Recommendation: If you liked the trailer, you'll probably enjoy the movie.