Review: Apple TV+ dumped Argylle early in the year for a reason. Although the cast is undeniably stacked, including a cast of Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Bryan Cranston, and more, the movie comes off as hollow and drab as anything Matthew Vaughn has made.
Argylle Review
Admittedly, I was expecting to have a bit of a sour reaction to Argylle. Despite trying to go into it like I do most movies – hopeful and open-minded – it was hard not to realize the underwhelming financial numbers and critical drubbing that the film took during its initial theatrical release window, as well as into its run on streaming.
And now that Argylle has hit Apple TV+, I can safely say I share the sentiments that this will surely be one of the worst movies of 2024, as well as one of the most disappointing efforts in the 2020s in general. Its cast is grand and diverse, and the budget is there to match, but the execution and tone is so obnoxiously abundant that I couldn’t wait for it to be over after just the first 10 minutes.
The leading performers, from Bryce Dallas Howard to Sam Rockwell, do try to elevate the film ever so slightly. Howard hasn’t starred in the best movies over the last few years, and her efforts to find a worthy franchise continue to run dry. The Jurassic World series was a dud, but even those films are pristine diamonds compared to this.
Matthew Vaughn is one of the directors being floated around as the next champion of the James Bond movie series, and I hope and pray that that honor goes to someone else. I’ve been unimpressed with nearly everything Vaughn has created up until this point. They’re all down-the-line action movies, from Kick-Ass to the Kingsman franchise, but the tonal work is all over the place. They lean too hard into trying to be funny, when in reality, they nearly always fall flat.
Apple TV+ dumped Argylle early in the year for a reason. Although the cast is undeniably stacked, including a supporting cast of Samuel L. Jackson, Bryan Cranston, Henry Cavill, John Cena, and more, it comes off as hollow and drab as anything Matthew Vaughn has made. Skip over this, because the constant plot twists and straining humor is more exhausting than it is interesting.
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy