Rich Reviews: Argylle
I have seen too many article headlines calling this movie a bomb and a poor show from everyone involved but I really liked it. It wasn’t a great movie by any means. I understand the criticisms. Some of the writing feels a bit off, the opening action sequence has some iffy special effects, and the cast feels under-utilized. My main gripe with the movies is playing on Bryce Dallas Howard as an awkward writer type. BDH is hot. Plain and simple.
A few critics are also calling out Henry Cavill due to his recent string of box failure but he’s still a bankable actor. I think he’s just had some bad luck with studios not wanting to work with a man dedicated to the source material of the projects he works on. He’s still Superman in my eyes. He fits the bill. I wish James Gunn would work with him. I feel like we could see a solid, happy, non-evil, smiling Superman sans the creep upper lip. Anyways, I am getting distracted.
Once the real story kicks in and we get away from Henry Cavil we cut to BDH going to see her Mom on a train. The timeless and wonderful Sam Rockwell shows up. He’s played the loveable assassin before, see 2015’s Mr. Right, and he does so again with wonderful choreography and action. I really like the cuts from Cavill to Rockwell in the action. Its a fun idea albeit we get a lot of BDH closeups. Not a bad thing but maybe too much of a good thing. The story gets a little confusing in the second and third acts. I think I’ve spoiled enough so I won’t go too far into it but the twists are like a slide at a waterpark. The first one or two can be suprising but I felt like there were just too many. I felt like anyone could be a triple double crosser with fries on the side at anytime.
Its a fun film all around though. People shouldn’t take it as a serious action thriller. If anything it feels like a parody of spy films in general. It has some good action. Bryce Dallas Howard and Sam Rockwell have great chemistry. I’d like to see them in a sequel just kicking ass and discussing the mortgage or something mid fight sequence. Henry has the Warhammer Extended Universe and is an ultra-likeable nerd so his career will be just fine in my opinion. The rest of the supporting cast do fine as well. Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cena, and Dua Lipa are wonderful. The first two especially. John Cena and Dua Lipa are in this a bit more than they are Barbie but they are ultimately cameos. John Cena could be so much more than just an action star, Peacemaker should prove that to any doubters and I haven’t seen Dua Lipa in enough things to judge. Not that I have any right to anyways.
P.S. (Spoiler BTW) — Bryce Dallas Howard ice skates on two knives on crude oil and she does so at an almost Olympic level. It is truly the most unbelievable thing but again, its fun to watch.
