When a spy novel author writes so well that actual spies are after her, it's "Argylle" to the rescue!
Except that the poster art for "Argylle" has "Superman" Henry Cavill front and center, along with the likes of John Cena and even Dua Lipa... but they are actually *not the stars of the film; a great Bryce Dallas-Howard and an even greater Sam Rockwell are. Not that they are a bad set of leads, just that the poster and the trailer are a bit... *misleading. It's also a shame that Rockwell doesn't dance more! But Dallas-Howard, whom I'm not normally a fan of, holds her own opposite him and is great in each aspect of an ever-changing role. But the flick is about 20 minutes too long, with much of what is crammed in there sometimes only for style and not much substance.
However, other than that, this movie is very enjoyable! As a parody of spy and romance novels as well as cinematic adaptations, it gets pretty wild in its own right skewering these various genres that it toes the line on absurd *most of the time... and eventually steps all over it, and hilariously so. It's so tongue in cheek you're not meant to take it too seriously, so it ends up being just a fun time at the movies... not that most of my fellow meta-critics agree!
But this movie exceeded my expectations even with its issues, among them being some lousy CGI. I did enjoy the decisions made to show Dallas-Howard blinking in between shots of her authored version crashing into reality and other stylistic choices that again, just overstayed their welcome.
And except for one f-bomb, "Argylle" largely stays within the PG-13 realm, which is quite a feat for director Matthew Vaughn.
Also if you go — and I think you should! Stay through the credits for clues to the future of "Argylle"!
Argylle (2024)
MPAA: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hrs 19 mins
Genres: Action, Thriller
