Argylle is a spy action comedy that can be pretty heavy on the former and severely lacking on the latter. It starts out with a goofy yet intriguing premise, but ultimately, there are too many cooks in the kitchen to make it effective.
Bryce Dallas Howard stars as Elly Conway, a novelist who writes about a spy named Aubrey Argylle (Henry Cavill). Argylle pops up early in the movie to show us what kind of spy he is.
While riding a train, Elly encounters a real-life spy named Aiden (Sam Rockwell). Aiden tells Elly that a mysterious organization known as the Division is tracking her down because her novels tell the future about their actions. He takes her with him on a quest to find the Masterkey, which will unlock all the Division’s secrets.
Bryan Cranston costars as Ritter, the leader of the Division, who tries to stop them from completing their mission. Cranston’s role is certainly bigger than most of the ensemble’s, but what his character exposes doesn’t contain an ounce of credibility. The more he exposes, the more ludicrous the plot becomes.
The same could be said for the rest of the cast, which features Catherine O’Hara as Elly’s mom, Oscar winner Ariana DeBose and John Cena as agents who are from Elly’s literary subconscious, and Samuel L. Jackson, who is really miscast, as are most of the other actors.
Argylle could’ve been a fun ride, but the story is more of a traffic jam of ideas that don’t live up to their potential, and the action sequences are not particularly thrilling. Plus, when it stops for humor, it almost always feels desperate or forced.
Argylle is intended to be the first in a series akin to the Kingsman franchise, but this looks like it will go down the same road that series did. The only difference is that the first Kingsman was ridiculously trashy fun, while this movie is 139 minutes of a bloated mess that neither entertains nor makes us laugh or care about anyone on screen.
Argylle is DOA after its first act and stays that way until the end.
Grade: C
(Now streaming on Apple TV. Rated PG-13 for strong violence and action and some strong language.)
