The mostly negative reviews for Argylle have set the stage for a potentially disappointing opening weekend for the new spy thriller at the start of the February 2024 box office. Directed by Matthew Vaughn, who is celebrated for his highly entertaining 2010s films, including Kick-Ass (2010), X-Men: First Class (2011), and Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), Argylle seemingly has all the ingredients to become one of the year’s best theatrical experiences. Many top critics have found this not to be the case, as the star-studded and very expensive blockbuster has not lived up to its hype based on its many poor reviews.
Argylle stars Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World) as Elly Conway, an author of espionage novels who discovers that the plot of her new spy book has started happening in real life. Henry Cavill leads as Argylle himself, the secret agent protagonist of Conway’s book and in the actual movie. Argylle also features performances by Sam Rockwell, John Cena, Samuel L. Jackson, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Sofia Boutella, Ariana DeBose, pop star Dua Lipa, and screenwriter Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman). Despite its $200 million budget and incredible pool of talent, Argylle has a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 34%.
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8 Argylle Has A Poorly Written & Convoluted Plot
The story is confusing and lacks originality
A common complaint among top critics who reviewed Argylle is that the story becomes muddled and difficult to follow. Peter Debruge of Variety wrote in his review of Agylle that Elly Conway is “stuck in a badly written spy comedy, no better than the clumsy one we hear her reading from in the opening scene, with its corny one-liners and triple-cross twists.” The Variety review also points out that “the broad strokes of Jason Fuchs’ script seem to have been borrowed outright from such pulp-flavored adventure movies as “The Lost City” and “Romancing the Stone,” hinting at the film’s overall lack of original spark.
7 Argylle’s Various Attempts At Comedy Fall Flat
Many of the jokes in Argylle don’t land
Several critics have also commented on the comedic misfires found throughout Argylle that might have helped it elevate above its currently poor Rotten Tomatoes score. Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter said in her reviews that “Argylle may mark a new low, with jokes that struggle to land.” David Elrich of Indiewire also shared similar concerns about the film’s lack of humor, asking “Why did they cast Catherine O’Hara as Elly’s mom if they weren’t going to let her be even a little funny?”. Unfortunately, the comedic moments don’t pack the punch they intend to in Argylle despite its fun premise.
6 Argylle’s CGI Scenes Are Very Unconvincing
Some critics wonder if the poor CGI was intentional
The unconvincing CGI seen throughout Argylle is one of the main reasons why the film has disappointed top critics. The Hollywood Reporter called Argylle’s CGI “appallingly shonky-looking” while IndieWire called certain scenes of the Matthew Vaughan film “CGI-drunk”. Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent, who still gave Agrylle a 3/5 rating, called the film’s CGI “choppy”. It’s evident that the realism of the CGI used in Argylle was not a priority in its $200 million budget, leaving critics and fans to wonder whether it was an intentional choice by Vaughan. IndieWire noted that the poor CGI ran the risk of having viewers ask, “Are the special effects that bad on purpose?”.
5 Agrylle’s Celebrity Cameos Are Over-The-Top
Many critics find all the cameos a point of distraction
A well-executed celebrity cameo in a blockbuster movie can make for some genuine movie magic, but Argylle’s excessive reliance on them is actually one of the film’s biggest criticisms. The Independent noted that the number of cameos in Argylle was “aggressive” while Variety said they were “collectively too arch to be believed.” Nick Schager of The Daily Beast wrote in his review that Argylle “seems primarily designed to answer the question, “How many movie stars can one fiasco squander?”. Some movies benefit from having a remarkably star-studded cast, but Argylle fails to make the most out of it.
4 Argylle Lacks Substance For Its Lengthy Runtime
Many critics have noted that the film is too long
Argylle has received several critiques for being too full of fluff and loose ends before arriving at its big reveal finale. Rolling Stone commented that “the movie still feels like it’s sucking wind right up until the fade-out” while IndieWire refers to most of the film’s second act as “flimsy and hyper-contrived fluff”. The Daily Beast says “Argylle is a waste of many gifted people’s talents” and Variety points out “what’s becoming an exhausting norm among Apple co-productions, “Argylle” runs well over two hours.” The Hollywood Reporter also noted Argylle’s “attenuated running time that tests patience,” which ultimately detracts from the impact of its grand finale.
3 Many Aspects Of Argylle Are Spy Movie Clichés
Argylle can’t hold a candle to serious action franchises
Many of Argylle’s top critics have pointed out its glaring similarities to Romancing the Stone, a 1984 action adventure directed by Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Back to the Future) starring Michael Douglas, Danny DeVito, and Kathleen Turner. There are also stark commonalities with celebrated action franchises such as Bourne, Bond, and Mission: Impossible, which by comparison makes Argylle look downright silly. Variety notes that Argylle is “so visually unconvincing it stands in stark contrast with Tom Cruise’s latest “Mission: Impossible” outing.”
2 Argylle Has Many Empty Plot Twists With No Payoff
There are also way too many twists altogether
The sheer amount of sudden plot twists in Argylle is one of the most frustrating aspects of the film that runs the risk of taking the viewer out of the movie. David Fear of The Rolling Stone wrote that he was led “to wonder if Vaughn and screenwriter Jason Fuchs were purposefully trying to find the breaking point regarding an audience’s tolerance for switcheroos. Congratulations, guys, you’ve found it!”. The Independent says that the film has “twists have that satisfactory, cheeseburger familiarity to them”, which isn’t necessarily a good thing. THR calls the plot twist “tortured” and “random”. It seems that Vaughan’s exaggerations of action-comedy tropes missed the mark in Argylle.
1 Argylle Isn’t As Enjoyable As Its Trailer Makes It Seem
Argylle’s trailer only captures a brief glimpse of the sprawling film
Ultimately, many critics have attested that Argylle is not all that it’s chalked up to be. The Hollywood Reporter says that the convoluted story and excessive twists “just feels like vapid pranking, pulling the rug out from under the viewer to no great purpose except to affect cleverness.” Some of the harshest critiques include The Daily Beast’s classification as “snooze-worthy”. IndieWire notes that “when a Matthew Vaughn movie isn’t fun, it doesn’t exactly have a lot to fall back on,” which seems to be the case with Argylle, which was once so highly anticipated.
Argylle
Argylle is an action thriller by director Matthew Vaughn. The movie centers on an introverted novelist who is thrown into the real world of espionage after the plot of her most recent spy thriller parrels the crimes of an underground syndicate. Argylle has a star-studded cast, including Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Dua Lipa, and Samuel L. Jackson, among others.
- Release Date
- February 2, 2024
- Director
- Matthew Vaughn
- Cast
- Henry Cavill , Ariana DeBose , Sofia Boutella , Catherine O’Hara , Bryce Dallas Howard , John Cena , Dua Lipa , Samuel L. Jackson , Sam Rockwell , Bryan Cranston , Rob Delaney
- Runtime
- 135 Minutes
- Writers
- Jason Fuchs
- Studio(s)
- Apple , Cloudy Productions , Marv Studios
- Distributor(s)
- Universal Pictures , Apple
