KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 — If you’ve been online long enough you have probably seen the Argylle trailer by now.
The bad news is that the trailer is quite literally the beginning of the film; the good news is it doesn’t actually tell you too much about what happens after that.
Argylle is the weirdly named protagonist (Henry Cavill) dreamed up by writer Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) who suddenly finds herself in a series of improbable events that are too much like her dreamed up fictional scenarios.
The film would be far less fun if I tell you who else makes an appearance in the film, who you haven’t seen in the trailer already.
Howard is amiable as the leading lady of the show with Sam Rockwell making an interesting appearance as an actual working spy.
Oh, there’s also the cat, who you’ve probably seen in the movie posters and if you decide to stream the film on Apple TV instead, a great (as in dangerous) drinking game would be to take a shot whenever the cat either appears or is mentioned.
My main contention with this film is that it’s afflicted with the modern filmmaking disease of being too damn long.
I’ve always thought the 1.5-hour mark as perfect, with the two-hour mark maybe being acceptable in very specific situations.
Instead Argylle feels a lot like being trapped in a hurtling train that suddenly gets a lot faster in the last half hour with a bewildering increase in explosions.
I like that no one in this film seems to be taking it at all seriously, which is usually a good time but it gets a little wearying after the third plot twist and fifth visual gag.
It is as though the scriptwriters got very drunk and proceeded to write the screenplay by fishing out potential memes and improbable situations out of a fishbowl.
Still the cast is very likeable, whether it’s Dua Lipa, John Cena, and of course Rockwell and Howard and you’ll also spot a couple of cameos from director Matthew Vaughn’s previous outings.
I think it’ll be a lot funnier if you only find out who else is in the film while watching it, at least that was how it was for me.
Now, should you watch it? Well.
Halfway through the press screening someone in the audience yelled: “What?”
It was very amusing and I can tell you this is the kind of film that will be fairly fun in the theatre, so long as you are with people who can appreciate a good pratfall.
Just don’t think too hard, make sure you go to the bathroom before the movie starts, avoid drinking too much while it plays and stay for the single mid-credits scene.
Skip it if you’re the type who prefers more cerebral matter or nitpicks CGI or plot points, definitely watch it if you need a break from the reality of a world in the middle of various conflicts or just really, really like Henry Cavill.
