Becoming The Muse

Argylle Movie Review

Argylle is a 2024 spy action comedy film directed and produced by Matthew Vaughn and written by Jason Fuchs. It is inspired by a book of the same name written by Elly Conway an author whose identity has been shrouded in secrecy leading to internet conspiracies about the real author.

The movie is centred around author Elly Conway whose best selling spy thriller novels are more than they seem as they appear to be predicting real world scenarios….

The Good

Argylle is a breath of fresh air in the action movie genre, it is hilarious, doesn’t take itself seriously and has a star studded cast with some faves.

Bryce Dallas Howard is brilliantly cast as Elly Conway a successful author with four best-seller novels and working on a fifth whose companion is a Scottish fold cat named Alfie. As a writer, I was particular intrigued with this character from the heady feel of being a successful author to the pressure and writers’ block that comes with trying to make your next project equal the success of your previous bodies of work… and of course a look into the mind of how a writer blurs reality and fiction to dish out their creations.

The plot twist riddled movie keeps you guessing as you try to figure out which way the story will unfold, some twists are obvious others not so much, with at least 11 major plot-twists something will definitely stick…. I might do a follow up post on the plot twists, although fair warning it will contain spoilers…

There is no lack of action sequences, car chases, train fights, gun fights and there is even oil skating action which is about as ridiculous as you can imagine and yet they pull it off. Argylle feels reminiscent of spy thrillers of old rolled into one from Bourne Identity to the The Long Kiss Goodnight with a sprinkle of Kingsman movies which is not surprising as it comes from the producer of the Kingsman franchise.

The Bad

Is there such a thing as having too many plot twists? Argylle certainly goes guns blazing for an award of movie with most number of twists… There’s too many twists and not enough of the plot that it just becomes absurd and you cant figure out if you coming or going…. Its a dizzy ride.

While its genre bending nature works in its favour, the movie cant seem to make up its mind on being a spy thriller or an action romantic comedy, its not clever and dark enough to be a satire yet its not whimsical enough to be a parody leaving it adrift  a forgettable stream.

The Ugly

How do you have a movie with an all star cast and just waste them… there is Samuel L Jackson, John Cena, Bryan Cranston, Henry Cavill and Dua Lipa who features in the soundtrack as well..

I feel the movie click baited us with Henry Cavill, he is in the movie but he isn’t really in it and his performance wasn’t what I expected from The Superman and Witcher actor.

Final Thoughts

If you up for a hilarious non-too serious action movie with sparks of brilliance, Argylle might just be your detox from world’s stress… Stay away from this movie if you take life and yourself way too seriously..

Fun Fact: it was revealed at the movie’s premiere that the book that inspired the movie was co-authored by  Terry Hayes and Tammy Cohen who were commissioned by Mathew Vaughn to write a book that the film’s heroine might have written.

Have you watched Argylle? ….Thoughts?