Argylle came out in theaters on Feb. 2, 2024. The film follows espionage novel writer Elly Conway, whose life takes a drastic turn when her books start to mirror the actions of a real-life spy organization.

This is a bizarre movie. The first half is a fairly straightforward spy thriller, but things take a drastic turn. Argylle turns into a race of twists and turns, constantly changing directions to keep the audience guessing. At the midway point, the film introduces its first big reveal, which I found to be effective. After that, however, it all began to feel redundant and repetitive. I could never really become invested in any specific aspect of the story in the second half of Argylle, simply because it continuously shifted its focus to something different. Most of these “surprises” weren’t successful either, as it was obvious that the flick was just going for shock value.

Argylle’s biggest flaw… it’s boring. Despite a fun final act, most of the film is filled with exposition. I found myself constantly checking the time, which is never a good sign – especially in an action comedy. This had no business being 139 minutes long. There are a number of moments that felt unnecessary to the story that probably could’ve been cut.

The other big issue here was the CGI. Most of the action isn’t very entertaining, besides a few hilariously absurd sequences in the last 30 minutes that are purposefully cheesy and played for comedy. The CGI is a constant distraction in these moments throughout the film’s runtime. None of these sequences felt very real, which took me out of the movie on several occasions. Even just the gunfire itself looks incredibly fake at times, which is concerning for a film that reportedly cost $200 million to produce.

Argylle tries to be smart with constant twists and turns, but it’s ultimately a boring, ineffective journey. Two goofy action sequences in the final act are the highlights here, but the rest of the movie doesn’t have much direction. It’s hard to become attached to any of the characters, and the weak writing becomes blatantly apparent as the story moves along. There is a more fast-paced, witty flick within Argylle, but that cut wasn’t delivered here.

Rating: 2 out of 5