Argylle

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://talkingfilms.net/argylle-review-a-delightful-surprise-of-campy-entertainment/

"Argylle emerges as a (very) pleasant surprise this new year, blending absurdity with sophistication to create a truly memorable cinematic experience.

Matthew Vaughn's vision, combined with Jason Fuchs' sharp, clever screenplay, provides an entertainment rollercoaster ride that obliterates initial expectations. From unexpected twists and turns to the incredibly charismatic cast, not to mention a third act filled with hilariously unforgettable action set pieces, the complex-made-simple spy story captivates the audience with its campy charm and relentless energy.

It's my first big recommendation of 2024, one you can't afford to miss in theaters!"

Rating: A-

"Elly Conway" (Bryce Dallas Howard) lives in her remote lakeside home writing spy novels that are going down a storm. Her conclusion to the fifth in the series about the eponymous, "007"-style agent perplexes her mother, though. What happens next? Well wait til book six would seem to be the obvious answer, but mom (Catherine O'Hara) insists so "Elly" decides to take train to visit her parents - and that's mistake number one. Onboard she encounters a rather scruffy looking chap "Wilde" (Sam Rockwell) who is reading one of her books. She tries to hide her identity, but when he gets to the fly-leaf then her secret is out. That's soon the least of her worries as she and travelling cat "Alfie" are soon caught up in something straight out of one ...

Its disappointing when a film has an intriguing premise but fails to deliver the goods in the end. Such is the case with director Matthew Vaughns latest, an action-adventure/comedy about an author of spy novels (Bryce Dallas Howard) who stumbles into a real-life espionage scenario that matches the plot of her latest novel, embroiling her in a web of ever-shifting intrigue with various nefarious parties. The problem here is that the film never quite latches onto a dedicated focus to make the picture work. Some of the comic bits are indeed quite funny, but they frequently get bogged down by a meandering story line thats trying to follow a more conventional, twist-laden thriller format. It leaves viewers asking, So whats it going to be? Theres...

Argylle is an action thriller that willingly wallows in goofy, cringey nonsense. Its writing is immature, and its action is overloaded with sloppy CGI and outrageous concepts that are preposterously frustrating.

Full review: https://bit.ly/arghspy

Such a peculiar film. Everything about it feels off.

I was initially a little unsure as to what I thought about 'Argylle', but in the end: it's a no from me. I couldn't actually tell you one thing that I properly liked about this, like at a push Sam Rockwell and Bryan Cranston are decent but even they get a bit hit-and-miss. There's just a constant tinge of lousiness that follows around throughout.

Bryce Dallas Howard feels miscast, even if she is fairly likeable. Henry Cavill is wooden (intentionally? doubtful), as is Dua Lipa but the musician has enough charm to make it work slightly. Speaking of music, all that is used here is alright but again feels off - mostly seems like the correct type of song, just the wrong exact choice of s...

What a disappointment. It tried to be a little Long Kiss Goodnight, Bullet Train, Bugs Bunny and James Bond. The CGI is horribly bad. Love Dallas in most things but in this she was fine as the author character but so unbelievable as the action spectacular spy. Sam Rockwell was great, as usual and the rest did a serviceable job but the story was horribly executed. The colorful, smoke bomb, ballet gunfire gauntlet scene was absurd. And what's with the repetitive use of the new Beatles tune? Didn't fit and slowed the action down. And the use of Henry Cavill and John Cena was confusing, silly and not needed. Promising beginning that crashed and burned.

Cringe worthy nonsense, loaded down with puerile premise after puerile premise, predictable, done to death action and irritating characterisations.

I managed about half of this before walking away. The US entertainment industry really is a bit of a bad joke these days.

Woof. I think they were going for fun quirky spy thriller, but it's just bad. And not bad in a way that is entertaining. All the characters and all the premises are just so stupid, and it looks so bad it's distracting, and it's boring on top of it all.