What’s It About
Elly Conway, an introverted spy novelist who seldom leaves her home, is drawn into the real world of espionage when the plots of her books get a little too close to the activities of a sinister underground syndicate. When Aiden, a spy, shows up to save her (he says) from being kidnapped or killed (or both), Elly and her beloved cat Alfie are plunged into a covert world where nothing, and no one, is what it seems.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
After months of advertising and hype, I went to see Argylle, and for the next 2 hours and 20 minutes, I was emotionally exhausted. It starts with our main spy, Argylle, infiltrating a club in Greece, trying to blend in until things go south quickly. He’s there for some spy stuff, ends up dancing with this glitzy gal LaGrange, and next thing you know, he’s dodging bullets. It felt like a wannabe James Bond scene without the cool factor. Then there’s this chase through the streets that feels like you’ve seen it a hundred times before, and when Argylle finally catches up to LaGrange, they drop some of the cheesiest lines I’ve heard in a while. It’s hard not to laugh at how seriously they’re taking themselves, especially with Henry Cavill rocking a hairdo that looks straight out of a bad ’80s spy novel. The movie tries to be a nod to the old-school spy films, but it misses the mark by a long shot. It’s like they threw every spy movie cliché into a blender but forgot to add flavor. And the plot? It’s got some twists, correction, a lot of twists, but nothing that’ll blow your mind since you probably won’t care by the time they get to the ump-teenth big reveal. The whole thing feels like a joke that’s trying too hard to be taken seriously. The weirdest part is this subplot with a bestselling spy novelist, Elly Conway, who’s apparently writing about all these adventures without realizing they’re real. It’s meant to add some depth, but it just feels forced. The cast is stacked with big names like Samuel L. Jackson and Sam Rockwell, but even they can’t save this ship from sinking. The action scenes are a mess, too. There’s this one fight scene that’s supposed to be epic, but it’s just… dull. And don’t get me started on the visuals. For a movie in this day and age, it looks surprisingly fake. I swear, some scenes with the green screen were so bad that it looked like a demo of what they wanted for the finished product. Overall, Argylle had the potential to be a fun, self-aware parody, but it ended up taking itself way too seriously, losing the charm it could’ve had. It tries to connect to the Kingsman vibe but ends up feeling like a knockoff that’s not in on the joke. A real shame because with a little more self-awareness and a lot less trying to be something it’s not, it could’ve been a blast.
OUR RATING – A $200 MILLION DOLLAR 5