Argylle

“Argylle” is locked, loaded, and ready to dive right into the exciting and ridiculous antics of Matthew Vaugn that we’ve come to know and love.

When I first saw the trailer for “Argylle” I was immediately reminded of the “Kingsman” movies and its companions. And not just because the trailer makes it known in no uncertain terms the same creators are involved. However, despite loving the original “Kingsman” movie, I was a bit unsure of what to expect from “Argylle”. 

 I was hopeful that we would get to see more spectacularly unrealistic action sequences and witty dialogue and was by no means disappointed there. “Argylle” more than delivers when it comes to capturing the essence of what made “Kingsman” so entertaining. 

Despite the similarities in tone and execution “Argylle”, thankfully, has a life of its own. This rather compelling story follows author Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) as she, and her adorable cat Alfie, are unexpectedly immersed into a whirlwind of gunfire and espionage. With only a complete stranger to trust, Elly is forced to investigate dangerous secrets lurking the under the surface of all she’s ever known. 

Using this trope could have made this film nothing more than a copy and paste of a typical espionage story, just in a different font. However, “Argylle” creates its own unique identity by throwing any pretense of realism out the window. Instead of trying to make the spectacular seem possible, “Argylle” openly embraces the absurdity of the impossible. This is done mostly by coming up with some creative plot twists and deviating from a few of the traditional norms. 

Though Elly and Aiden’s (Sam Rockwell) adventures lead to an inevitable conclusion, it’s hilarious and exciting to watch these two characters along the way. Howard and Rockwell give excellent performances here. Which only makes relationship between their characters endearing. Watching this pair jump blindly out of trains and crash through walls in pursuit of the adversary only makes the plot more compelling. 

However well executed, “Argylle” is not without its minor flaws. It’s obviously unreasonable to expect an airtight plot from a movie that casually tosses a backpacked cat in 50 feet into the air. But there are definitely a few spots that are a bit rough around the edges. The overall structure is good but the transition between acts 2 and 3 increased the story’s pacing which was a little jarring. Since the movie opens by introducing several mysteries, it made since why they needed to speed things up at the end. 

The disjointed pacing is also due, in part, to the way “Argylle” seemed to continuously add frivolous layers of plot to an already cohesive story line. It seemed as though the writers got a touch carried away in trying to beef up the surprise factor in the reveals. 

The more questions that are raised, the more time is needed to satisfactorily answer them. By shaving off some of the excess, there would have been more room to strengthen some of the plot’s weaker points. More importantly, this would have created a bit more space to flesh out character arch’s that needed more breathing room. 

In spite of these hiccups, “Argylle” is one of the better movies to come out lately. It doesn’t go too overboard on the antics, but it also doesn’t take itself too seriously. Which would be hard to do with all the massive, rainbow colored explosions. 

Speaking of massive explosions, the visual style and effect displayed throughout is nothing short of masterful. Everything from the editing and cinematography, down to the color scheme captures the essence and theme of “Argylle” as a whole. The curation and emphasis put into these kinds of details is a key part of what gives this movie, and the “Kingsman” movies as well, their distinct identity. Part of what makes “Argylle” successful is that even though both of these movies are gorgeous, they are still visually distinct from one another. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this film. No, it’s not perfect but, “Argylle” is one of the few, recent movies I could see myself re-watching in the future. Moreover, this is one movie I would actually suggest seeing in a theater. The colorful and exciting shenanigans are worth seeing on the big screen. Which is more than I can say for most as of late.