Argylle
Universal Pictures | Release Date: February 2, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
35
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 56 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
29
Negative:
21
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
ColliderMaggie LovittJan 31, 2024
At its core, it's a light-hearted spy romp that riffs on a lot of the soap-opera tropes that crossover into the realm of espionage. "Dumb fun" might get thrown around a lot with Vaughn's films, and it might be true, but Argylle does try to be smart in its execution. Read full review
75
ConsequenceLiz Shannon MillerJan 31, 2024
The stakes might technically be high, but at a certain point, Argylle abandons all connection to reality to deliver pure romp from beginning to end. Yes, this at times tips over into silliness, but during a time of real geopolitical upheaval and political uncertainty… maybe there’s nothing wrong with that. Read full review
70
UproxxMike RyanJan 31, 2024
Though I will warn you, if you haven’t cared for Matthew Vaughn’s more recent efforts, it’s unlikely Argylle is going to change that for you. It’s like he pays attention to what his detractors despise, then decides, “Well, what if I gave you more of that.” Read full review
70
SlashfilmEthan AndertonJan 31, 2024
At the very least, the filmmaker offers up some cool things that we haven't seen in a modern action movie like this, which can be very challenging in the wake of many "Mission: Impossible" and "John Wick" movies. For that, Argylle is worth a trip to the theater. Read full review
65
CNNBrian LowryFeb 1, 2024
Cast to the hilt, the film proves inventively twisty if a little convoluted, with the modest disclaimer that it’s not as good as the trailer makes it look. Read full review
63
ObserverEmily ZemlerJan 31, 2024
The film, written by Jason Fuchs and based on a novel Elly Conway (who fans have, perhaps incorrectly, suspected is a pen name for Taylor Swift), boasts strong performances and creatively memorable sequences, but sometimes loses itself in a roller coaster of plot twists that many will see coming. Read full review
60
NMENick LevineFeb 1, 2024
Because it takes too long to become truly gripping, it ends up overstaying its welcome during the last few big reveals. Still, there’s no denying it contains enough intrigue to launch the franchise that Vaughn is already planning. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeJan 31, 2024
And yet. Howard is so irrepressibly charming that Argylle proves hard to wholly resist. Her inherent warmth and charm add interesting balance to the violence she ultimately gets to inflict on circling maniacs. One must also grudgingly acknowledge Vaughn’s dedication to an epic mayhem that strives towards a blend of Bollywood, Hong Kong action and Golden Age musical. Read full review
60
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyJan 31, 2024
The real selling point is a romance so dorky, sweet, and likeable that, well, maybe only Taylor Swift could have written it. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJan 31, 2024
When Argylle is fun, it is really fun. Watching Rockwell and Howard run around the world is entertaining, for a time, but not forever. “Because these things will change,” as Swift sings in “Change.”... Maybe she should have written the movie. Read full review
60
Screen RantMolly FreemanJan 31, 2024
Argylle is worth checking out for those interested, but don't expect it to be as good as Kingsman: The Secret Service, though it's certainly better than The King's Man. Read full review
60
EmpireBen TravisJan 31, 2024
Flashy, fun and light on its feet, Argylle papers over its cracks with twist upon twist — and charming performances from its central duo. Read full review
58
PolygonOli WelshFeb 7, 2024
Howard and Rockwell are both funny, charismatic actors, but it’s a struggle for them to build real romantic chemistry amid all Argylle’s layered artificiality. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubManuel BetancourtFeb 1, 2024
In trying to do both—in trying to play it straight and yet show the very absurd mechanics of what it means to do so—Argylle lands in a kind of exhausting limbo, forever stretching its premise to its breaking point only to snap it back up again. Read full review
58
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJan 31, 2024
Argylle ends on another glorious high that a more serious movie would never have been able to pull off, but the flimsy and hyper-contrived fluff leading up to it is so determined to justify its own absurdity that it doesn’t leave us enough of a chance to enjoy it. Read full review
55
TheWrapJan 31, 2024
Argylle is fun in spurts with a strong cast of characters that help you get through the overly exaggerated runtime. But the script boxes itself into a corner too often and falls into repetition. Read full review
50
We Got This CoveredFrancisca TinocoFeb 2, 2024
Argylle isn't a triumph and it's oceans away from Vaughn's best, but it manages to hold on by a thread to the essence of what makes the filmmaker's work shine. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriFeb 2, 2024
The more turns Jason Fuchs’s script takes, the more monotonous everything feels. And because Vaughn never drops his fantastical, cartoonish style, “reality” ceases to have any true meaning within the context of the film; he keeps trying to up the stakes even as what we’re watching becomes less and less consequential. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperFeb 1, 2024
Clocking in at a bloated and self-indulgent 2 hours and 19 minutes, filled with VFX sequences so cheesy you wonder if they’re supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, and bogged down by a plot so convoluted you’ll be reaching for the aspirin, “Argylle” is a bright shining pile of mediocrity. Read full review
50
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldFeb 1, 2024
Ultimately, Argylle is mostly bad CGI, action sequences that go by so fast you wonder what Vaughn is trying to hide, and a lot of strange tangents. Read full review
50
Vanity FairRichard LawsonJan 31, 2024
To be fair, toward the end of the film, Vaughn does up the ante to stage one utterly ridiculous fight scene that teeters between amusing and embarrassing. At least he is trying for something there. Otherwise, Argylle lacks the inventive physics and gaudy flair we have come to expect from him. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerJan 31, 2024
But while Argylle’s stunt-filled antics are suitably loaded with those Vaughnian action sequences, it’s also bloated by more plot twists and reveals than a breezy action comedy can or should be forced to endure. Read full review
50
Screen DailyNikki BaughanJan 31, 2024
This tale of a bestselling spy novelist who finds herself embroiled in real life espionage has some fun moments, an impressive cast and explosive set pieces (not to mention some strong echoes of classic eighties adventure series Romancing The Stone) but, in its attempts to keep audiences guessing, ties itself up in knots. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter DebrugeJan 31, 2024
While common sense and good taste may be inclined to resist Vaughn’s garishly over-the-top style at first, the movie eventually finds its groove. Read full review
50
USA TodayBrian TruittJan 31, 2024
On the whole, Argylle just isn’t as exciting or refreshing as what Vaughn did with his stellar “Kingsman: The Secret Service." Read full review
45
Paste MagazineMichael BurginFeb 5, 2024
For a cool $200 million and this cast, I would have gladly taken less marketing mystery on the front end and more rigor in the actual story. Read full review
45
The AtlanticDavid SimsFeb 2, 2024
It’s all perfectly agreeable nonsense. Read full review
45
The Daily BeastNick SchagerJan 31, 2024
Its comic touch almost as heavy-handed as its slow-motion-drenched action is dull, it seems primarily designed to answer the question, “How many movie stars can one fiasco squander? Read full review
42
Original-CinChris KnightFeb 1, 2024
Argylle is not as dreadfully unwatchable as the Kingsman movies, but it is dolefully derivative, as if The Manchurian Candidate and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty had a baby, then abandoned it to be raised on The Planet of the Apes. Read full review
42
The PlaylistMarshall ShafferJan 31, 2024
Argylle proves hollow from the inside out. Read full review
40
Little White LiesHannah StrongFeb 7, 2024
To Vaughn’s credit, at least Argylle isn’t as gleefully misogynistic as the Kingsman films, but that’s a bit like saying “Well, at least the pigeon shit didn’t get in my mouth” after a pigeon has shat on your face. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeFeb 7, 2024
The special effects seem shoddy and unfinished and the screenplay struggles to keep up with its own twists and turns. Read full review
40
BBCNicholas BarberJan 31, 2024
The one Vaughn trademark that Argylle is lacking is the director's usual adolescent offensiveness. He's taken out all the sex, gore and swearing, which may be a sign of belated maturity, but which leaves Argylle seeming all too close to Ghosted, Shotgun Wedding, Freelance, Murder Mystery, and the other sort-of action, sort-of romance, sort-of comedy films which have been dumped on streaming services over the last couple of years. They're all vapid, anonymous blocks of content, but at least the others offer something vaguely glamorous to slump in front of in your living room when you can't settle on anything more nourishing to watch. Argylle, on the other hand, is being released in cinemas, so the shoddy and derivative nature of the enterprise is harder to forgive. Read full review
40
Total FilmKevin HarleyJan 31, 2024
First too slow, then too silly, Vaughn’s well-cast but wayward romp fires off half-baked ideas without the focus needed to make them stick. Read full review
40
IGNJesse HassengerJan 31, 2024
Matthew Vaughn’s latest directorial effort doesn’t traffic in the same edgelord button-pushing as his Kingsman series, but as that relief fades, it becomes clear how much Argylle is recycling ideas and imagery from those (and other, better) movies. Bryce Dallas Howard and Sam Rockwell make an endearing pair, but they’re committed to an occasionally loony adventure that lacks the grace necessary to match its stars. Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliFeb 2, 2024
I didn’t laugh once and the movie’s stylized and satirical tone defused any connection I might have felt for the characters. Perhaps if the proceedings hadn’t dragged on well past the two-hour mark, it wouldn’t have seemed like such a chore to sit through. Read full review
38
The Associated PressJake CoyleFeb 1, 2024
Criss-crossing patterns of ridiculousness and self-satisfaction run through “Argylle,” a tiresome meta movie that puts an awful lot of zest into an awfully empty high-concept story. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 31, 2024
Brawls and epic shoot-outs break out, droll action heroes and venemous villains smirk and sneer, bodies fly about and the body count soars in a light thriller that begins with great promise and stumbles into ponderous “streaming” pacing before the struggle to rally at the finale arrives. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comRobert DanielsJan 31, 2024
It’s a shame. Argylle had the potential to be a whissmart parody. It unfortunately just seems to get tired of being the butt of the joke before it can deliver the punchline. But in attempting to avoid becoming a gag—laboring to connect this film with the Kingsman franchise—Vaughn imbues his film with anonymity, making it merely forgettable. Read full review
30
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithFeb 1, 2024
The screenwriter starts to seem like a sweaty basement-of-the-coffee-house magician who keeps sawing ladies in half long past the point of diminishing returns. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinJan 31, 2024
Sure, it’s entirely possible that the film will find a constituency who will love its mirthless, shouty performances, its tortured random plot twists and its appallingly shonky-looking CGI. But there is also a distinct possibility audiences will turn up their noses at this like it’s a fresh litter box deposit. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleFeb 5, 2024
What has gone wrong in director Matthew Vaughn’s process that he can offer up an awful mess like “Argylle” and just hope that nobody will notice? He must notice. Read full review
25
The Film StageConor O'DonnellFeb 2, 2024
It takes a very specific kind of brain trust to craft something as uniquely baffling as Argylle. Read full review
25
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiFeb 1, 2024
Argyle is a pretty pattern. “Argylle,” meanwhile, is the latest example of a pretty irritating pattern from director Matthew Vaughn. Read full review
25
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsFeb 1, 2024
It’s lousy, and a frantic bore, squandering its on-screen talent and making bland visual hash of its preening, recreational slaughter. Read full review
25
Washington PostTy BurrJan 31, 2024
When Vaughn is cooking, his films can be stylish, self-satisfied junk food. “Argylle” leaves the style out of the equation — it’s filmmaking as processed interstate fare, high in calories, low in fiber, tasty until you’ve had enough of it and then you feel sick. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineJake ColeJan 31, 2024
And the more each new twist is revealed and summarily falls flat, the faster the next one is slotted into place to get ahead of the story’s anticlimax, leading to a spiral in which the plot becomes even more meaningless. Read full review
20
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshFeb 2, 2024
Argylle has bone-deep structural issues on a fundamental level, but it is also a failure of directorial execution from top to bottom, resulting in what has to be one of the most expensive worst movies ever made. It’s honestly fascinating — something that should be studied in a lab. Read full review
20
ABC NewsPeter TraversFeb 2, 2024
Forget the rumor that Taylor Swift wrote the books this sad excuse for a romcom is based on. Bryce Dallas Howard is wasted as a cat lady who writes thrillers—Henry Cavill and Sam Rockwell play spies—but this whole dull, plodding, cartoonish mess lands with a thud. Read full review
20
The New York TimesAlissa WilkinsonFeb 1, 2024
It is ostensibly a tribute to spy movies of an earlier age, not clever enough to be a spoof and certainly not satire. But a homage shows affection for, understanding of and respect toward the thing it is honoring. Argylle feels pasted together by a robot manipulating some kind of spy Magnetic Poetry. Read full review
20
Rolling StoneDavid FearJan 31, 2024
There’s a deadening feeling you get watching all of this, as if Argylle’s real revelation is: We’ve cracked the code on how to take a handful of your favorite actors and a surefire ha-ha-bang-bang storyline and leech every single thing out that you usually like about these kinds of things. Read full review
20
The Film VerdictAlonso DuraldeJan 31, 2024
Director Matthew Vaughn, fresh off the success of his irritating Kingsman franchise, makes Argylle utterly weightless, both literally (the stuntwork all seems to be taking place in zero gravity) and figuratively (the barely-there characters never register). Read full review
20
The TelegraphRobbie CollinJan 31, 2024
The action is slapstick-driven, yet the set-pieces are all so transparently bogus – with fourth-rate CGI and actors’ digital doubles flopping about the place like haunted marionettes – that they play as insulting rather than outrageous. Read full review
20
The GuardianPeter BradshawJan 31, 2024
This could theoretically be a fun movie, but it is all so self-conscious and self-admiring, with key action sequences rendered null and void by being played on two levels, the imaginary and the real, so cancelling each other out. Read full review
14
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJan 31, 2024
One of the most chaotically stupid action movies to torture audiences in ages. Read full review
0
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonFeb 1, 2024
Argylle is a cynical cash grab that has the audacity to use that “new” Beatles song, “Now and Then” (itself a cynical cash grab pieced together with far more skill than this movie) as the basis for its score and the “love theme” for Aidan and Elly. Read full review
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