One might consider a bad movie something that didn't reach a particular vision, they tried and failed, but I feel more offended by movies that are created exactly as intended and still are filled with flaws. I don't blame rickety old boats, but I do blame vast ships hitting icebergs. And unfortunately, Argylle is a very bad film because it squanders almost every resource it has.
Number one: the actors. Henry Cavill is first billed in the movie and he is followed by an impressive list of celebrities: John Cena, Daniel Singh, Dua Lipa, Richard E. Grant, Samuel L. Jackson, Sophia Boutella. Well, NONE of these actors has any role above the level of a cameo. The only actors are Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell and Brian Cranston. It was a criminal underuse of the cast. And I know they would have to pay them, but really, there was no reason for any of them to be part of the film with the roles they had. Another wasted cast member: the cat. YouTube videos make more use of a lovely cat than this film. And by the way, whoever put Bryce in that yellow dress at the end of the film should be fired and never hired again. I am all for hiring people with disabilities, but blind people don't belong in the film fashion industry.
Number two: the story. A light and fun combination of Mission Impossible and Romancing the Stone, it should have been a slam dunk. In this era of people tired of all the remakes, it is time for remixes: take two unrelated films and mix them together. It required no brains, it was so easy. And still they botched it. The plot makes no sense, the twists are obvious and many times redundant, the movie doesn't know if it wants to be fun, action, thriller or romance.
Number three: no art. The final nail in the coffin, this film was utterly predictable. The glaring mistakes, grating tone changes, tasteless style and fashion, story issues, plot holes, the bad CGI, the misuse of actors, the bad acting and sets, none of that was actually unexpected. From the very beginning, the film is SCREAMING at you "I am a silly movie, my makers didn't take me seriously, so why should you?". It's not an endearing quality, but a screeching painful alert that no one actually cared even a bit for the quality of this film and that they knew from the get go it was a by the numbers product, not an artistic endeavor.
Bottom line: Sam Rockwell was great, as always, and that's the only reason I don't rate this into oblivion. However it is an insultingly bad film considering the resources available and you should simply avoid it.
Number one: the actors. Henry Cavill is first billed in the movie and he is followed by an impressive list of celebrities: John Cena, Daniel Singh, Dua Lipa, Richard E. Grant, Samuel L. Jackson, Sophia Boutella. Well, NONE of these actors has any role above the level of a cameo. The only actors are Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell and Brian Cranston. It was a criminal underuse of the cast. And I know they would have to pay them, but really, there was no reason for any of them to be part of the film with the roles they had. Another wasted cast member: the cat. YouTube videos make more use of a lovely cat than this film. And by the way, whoever put Bryce in that yellow dress at the end of the film should be fired and never hired again. I am all for hiring people with disabilities, but blind people don't belong in the film fashion industry.
Number two: the story. A light and fun combination of Mission Impossible and Romancing the Stone, it should have been a slam dunk. In this era of people tired of all the remakes, it is time for remixes: take two unrelated films and mix them together. It required no brains, it was so easy. And still they botched it. The plot makes no sense, the twists are obvious and many times redundant, the movie doesn't know if it wants to be fun, action, thriller or romance.
Number three: no art. The final nail in the coffin, this film was utterly predictable. The glaring mistakes, grating tone changes, tasteless style and fashion, story issues, plot holes, the bad CGI, the misuse of actors, the bad acting and sets, none of that was actually unexpected. From the very beginning, the film is SCREAMING at you "I am a silly movie, my makers didn't take me seriously, so why should you?". It's not an endearing quality, but a screeching painful alert that no one actually cared even a bit for the quality of this film and that they knew from the get go it was a by the numbers product, not an artistic endeavor.
Bottom line: Sam Rockwell was great, as always, and that's the only reason I don't rate this into oblivion. However it is an insultingly bad film considering the resources available and you should simply avoid it.