Argylle

In a time where movie audiences are desperate for something new and creative we welcome Argylle. Marketed as a movie about a spy novel, author Argyll offers a fun and exciting twist on existing spy and action movies. I’m not going to lie. I really didn’t expect a lot from this movie, I expected some humor, and a very campy feeling. What I didn’t expect was a genuinely fun and creative movie.

Let’s start with the story itself. The first act was very much what it was marketed to be. Elly Conway gets sucked into the world of espionage when spy organizations think that her stories can lead them to an important file. As this story unfolds we are met with several act 2 and 3 twists that would have M. Night Shyamalan salivating. Now this is your last chance to avoid spoilers because I am about to get very detailed. That said, I’ll state right now that movie was great and you should go see it. Okay let’s start with twist number 1; The director of the bad guys is our main character's dad. Absolute craziness, brilliant reveal. Twist number 2; The bad guys are not her parents, Elly is actually a spy herself (named Rachel) who was severely injured and then brainwashed. Twist number 3; As a spy Rachel was working for the bad guys. Now normally this many twists would feel exhaustive and forced but every twist and turn was genuinely so natural and wonderfully thought out.

My favorite scene in the entire movie was Elly and Wyatt fighting their way out of the bad guy base. They clearly blew a good amount of their production budget on this scene and I mean this in the best way possible. There were bright colors, dancing, and a wildly well choreographed fight sequence. It was fun, and seriously well done. It actually reminded me of the scene in Birds of Prey when Harley is making her way through the police station with the colored smoke bombs. It was so fun to watch and I really had a great time throughout that whole scene.

Let’s get to the dialogue. We of course had all the usual spy jargon, but we also had some really witty and funny dialogue. Sam Rockwell was a great casting choice and his delivery was excellent. This was truly a role that he was made for. And Bryce Dallas Howard was the absolute perfect balance of adorable and badass. So many major actors that fit the genre perfectly got to make appearances and it really made the movie perfect. I am going to go ahead and let this movie lead the charge as the best cast movie of the year with; Bryan Cranston, Samuel L. Jackson, Henry Cavill, John Cena and our two leads it was a truly impressive cast and they all played so well off of each other.

Overall I think the movie was incredible. It knew exactly what it was and it stuck to its genre. It played with genre tropes as opposed to into them. And it really brought a creative spin on traditional spy movies. It was very much related to the Kingsman and the tone is very similar. The pacing was pretty incredible, nothing went on for too long and honestly when act 2 hit it was really nonstop action and twists that it did a really great job of keeping the audience invested. As one of the first movies released this year it did a really great job of hopefully setting the tone for the kinds of movies that we are going to get this year.