The most talked about film in recent days is ‘Argylle’, the new feature film by Matthew Vaughn that mixes action and comedy with its particular style. Everything suggested that it was going to be a great success, with Manzana investing a whopping 200 million to get it, but when push comes to shove it is being a disaster at the box office. And it has also been destroyed by critics and the public has also reacted quite negatively to it.
Obviously, there are as many members of the specialized press as viewers who have enjoyed it, but it is also clear that the general feeling has not been precisely that. And it is difficult for me to understand it, since it is true that ‘Argylle’ is far from ‘Kingsman: Secret Service’, but we are indeed faced with a cross between an action show and a very entertaining romantic comedy.
Unfairly destroyed
I do have my suspicions that the promotional campaign could have been a factor that works against it, since ‘Argylle’ has been sold as a crazy action movie in which Henry Cavill He was basically the main protagonist of the show. The reality is that Geralt of Rivia from the first three seasons of ‘The Witcher’ has a fairly reduced presence beyond the first minutes of footage.
In fact, it’s almost as if that were something sought after, since only one trailer for ‘Argylle’ was released and then appeared incessantly before a multitude of premieres. That could also cause some exhaustion among the public, but with criticism it is not a relevant factor. What it can be is the possibility of selling it in one way and then being another, which is why I am remembering the reception that ‘The Forest’ had at the time. The big difference is that the movie M. Night Shyamalan who also had Bryce Dallas Howard in a prominent role it was an indisputable commercial success.
However, I’m not here to talk about why I think ‘Argylle’ is being hammered mercilessly. My goal is to try to make clear why I think it is a much better film than what is being said, and that I don’t even think it’s one of Vaughn’s best works. -of his filmography as a director I would also put ‘Layer Cake’, ‘Stardust’, ‘X-Men: First Class’ and ‘The King’s Man: The First Mission’ above -, but that’s enough for him to be well above the average of recent Hollywood blockbusters.
For now, ‘Argylle’ is an action rollercoaster full of surprises, so many that they may tire some viewers, but that is also something that bets on Vaughn’s more excessive approach from the staging that leads to we are facing a film that bet on the most difficult one continuously.
It is true that visually there are some somewhat ugly details, but Vaughn’s staging work is so energetic that it becomes a minor problem. And if there’s one thing you’re never going to find here, it’s a textbook blockbuster, one of those as exciting as watching a plant grow in real time. For better or worse, ‘Argylle’ has personality and we owe that mainly to its director.
Furthermore, this extends to all aspects of the show, with a cast dedicated and having a great time with a continuous cascade of impossible twists in which an enviable sense of fun prevails. Yes, there are some removable characters who could have given more of themselves – I think especially of those played by Sofia Boutella and Samuel L. Jackson-, but in the end everything is subject to the improbable adventure that Howard lives with Sam Rockwell.
And ‘Argylle’ It is, at its core, a most unusual romantic comedy.. It is not as obvious a case as when Hollywood has recently tried to prevent the public from knowing that some films are actually a musical, but it does end up being the backbone along with the overdose of action and the strong presence of humor that on this occasion It points more towards an unleashed satire than the parody component that Vaughn opted for in the first installment of the ‘Kinsgman’ saga.
All this leads to ‘Argylle’ ending up being a madness that demands more than ever that the viewer be willing to let themselves go. It is also a film marked by excess, something that serves both to leave us with unforgettable scenes and others that surely would have worked better with another approach. The point is that we are facing a daring spectacle that did not deserve to be stoned in this way.
