You've Got the Wrong "Argylle"

A Cinematic Universe Doing...Something

This is such a controversial movie because it’s good and it’s bad and people actually went to watch it and form opinions on it. The marketing scheme was aggressive, it touted its star-studded cast like a Swarovski bracelet at the Met Gala and you could not watch a theatrical release without watching this trailer since late last year.

Is it a perfect movie? Probably not, but I had a lot of fun and that is literally it, that is my benchmark for what makes a film good or not. I don’t really care for the critics or other miscellaneous criteria they have to demean or exonerate a film.

Make me laugh, and I’ll like you :D

Similarly, make me cry and I’ll probably still like you.

Make me feel any sort of emotion that I’ve managed to quell in my 20-something years on this earth and I will put you on the Good List.

This is a silly movie. Absolutely, 100%.

The trailers do it justice but I’ll let you in on a little secret, my current biggest gripe with modern trailers is the 1-2-3, beginning-middle-end style of narrative spoiling that goes on, and Argylle manages to avoid that. By conveniently omitting anything past the second act. That’s not to say that this movie felt like 2 squished into one, but that the pacing and direction was well done enough that the rising actions break through a ceiling and keep climbing well into the third act for its final flourish.

It’s a fun movie. Don’t discredit it because some fanboys didn’t get their ritual hard-ons for Vaughn’s work, many of who dismissed this film out of hand simply based on the trailer. Give it a chance. Then make your decision. To condemn a movie based on its trailer and external reviews, seems…silly. Hate it, love it, dismiss it. But know what it is you are attaching these emotions to and then we’ll talk.

Kingsman Universe

This does look like a thong.

Shocker, this movie is yet another installment into Vaughn’s continuing filmography of the Kingsman titles, albeit in a different way.

I like his movies, superhero adaptations that they are and gratuitous gore as they spout. The cinematography makes me think of all the ways the camera is influencing and even telling the story. The friend I watched this with specifically said that she figured out the ending by the camerawork; the lens cannot lie, so while the editing may try to trick you, the camera can only ever tell you the truth. So really look at what you are watching.

It’s beautifully shot. The editing is clean, a little jarring, but absolutely fast-paced to match the speed of the action and the minds at work trying to outwit each other.

The director has created a film language for this film series with wide, beautiful choreography that feels more like a dance than a fight.

This is his style. If you don’t like it, that’s fine. I’m not saying it’s everyone’s cup of tea, but I am saying that if this isn’t it for you, there is something else. Shitting on every single one of his movies for being the same is like complaining that a writer writes his letter ‘a’ the same every single time and only follows 3-act structure like. We get it. Form isn’t sexy for some reason LOL but it tells a story, and that’s the most important thing we seem to be forgetting in an age of CGI and digital oversaturation.

Fight Choreography

I cannot explain how much I love their fight scenes.

A little ridiculous for sure, the ice skating on oil had me bent over because I was laughing so hard, but it is SO CLEAN. Punches look like they connect (shout out to their camera ops, editors, and stunt team for making this look believable!), there is follow-through on the range of motion, they fight and collect damage as the movie goes on.

Say what you will about these movies, but they make fighting look classy. If you like action movies and fight scenes and the John Wick movie franchise, this is a good one to simply watch and enjoy for what it is:

An action movie.

Look past the bells and whistles and all the cameos and you get a pretty good action movie. Will it win any awards? Probably not, but mainly because we’re tired of seeing these kinds of movies and not so much because it was poorly executed.

These fight sequences are always the best part of the Kingsman movies and this is no exception. There are several sprinkled throughout the movie and it is fantastic. The final fight scene is dramatic, could’ve had better lighting, but does a good job of setting the scene and the consequences of what happens if the good guys lose.

At the end of the day, this is just a movie. So we might as well enjoy it :)

Cheers~