Argylle

• Director: Matthew Vaughn
• Writer: Jason Fuchs
• Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Henry Cavill, John Cena, Dua Lipa, Catherine O’Hara, Samuel L. Jackson, Ariana DeBose

Grade: C

Matthew Vaughn’s Argylle is the kind of film that would cause a much bigger uproar if it weren’t released in the first quarter of the year, when studios tend to dump the projects they have the least faith in. It’s the kind of easily digestible popcorn film to see when you’ve already seen the remnants of the previous year and have caught up with the crop of Oscar nominees still hanging around. It shamelessly pays homage to the spy thrillers of yesteryear, along with films like Romancing the Stone or the recent The Lost City, without really carving out its own space in the genre.