Argylle's Biggest Action Scene Is Also 2024's First Great Romantic Moment
This post contains spoilers for "Argylle."
"Argylle" arrives in theaters this weekend, and even though critics aren't being overly kind to Matthew Vaughn's latest spy action venture, yours truly had an enjoyable time with the twist-filled story, especially once the hinges are blown off the familiar formula and the "Kingsman" filmmaker really gets to cut loose with a pair of absolutely cuckoo action sequences, the likes of which we've never seen on the big screen before. Initially, I wished the entire movie had that kind of unrestrained madness, but reaching that level of zaniness requires a gradual ascent rather than full-bore throwing you into the insanity from the get-go.
Even if you walked away from "Argylle" frustrated or confused by the movie's many twists and turns, you can't help but admire Vaughn's penchant to take an action movie off the rails. In this case, the third act of "Argylle" delivers two totally outlandish action sequences. While the second offers a heroic move that has never been executed before, with Bryce Dallas Howard flexing a unique skill that is not often useful in an action movie setting, it's an earlier sequence that took my enjoyment of the movie to a new level, and it also happens to be quite a lovely romantic moment as well.
A great escape
By the third act of "Argylle," a lot has happened. Author Elly Conway, who has been writing the successful "Argylle" spy novel series for the past five years, has discovered that she lived a previous life as a spy named Rachel Kylle, or Agent R. Kylle. That makes Elly Conway the real Agent Argylle. On top of that, Elly learns that she was actually a double agent working for the villainous organization known as The Division, something unknown to her partner and lover Aidan (Sam Rockwel), who was trying to protect her from the deadly spies aiming to kill her. But rather than staying true to her dark path, she appears to shoot Aidan and leave him for dead, but she merely put a bullet through him in a tiny spot near his heart, where he only appeared dead but actually survived.
Reunited, Rachel and Aidan are cornered in The Division's headquarters. But thankfully, they happen to be in the armory, which is packed with weapons and tactical gear. And they're about to make quite an escape.
Set to Leona Lewis' cover of "Run" (originally by Snow Patrol), Rachel and Aidan shoot smoke canisters into a swarm of bad guys, filling their exit with vibrant, colorful smoke. As they maneuver and slide through the smoke, all while shooting and knocking around their enemies, they move with each other as if they're ballroom dancing. Aidan swings Rachel around elegantly, allowing her to strike another group of combatants. They continue to obscure the battlefield with more smoke, which starts to take the shape of hearts and rainbows, creating a fantastically beautiful portrait of love and violence. It's silly, it's beautiful, it's lovely, it's unbelievable, and it's just plain cool. You can actually see a very brief snippet of it in the "Argylle" trailer.
'So this was me going into the musical fantasy sequence'
At a press junket for "Argyllle," we spoke with director Matthew Vaughn about the impetus for this spectacular sequence, and here's what he had to say:
"My mind obviously works in mysterious and screwed-up ways. I had this sort of — What's happening, I've been flirting with the idea of doing a musical, which I'm going to do now. So this was me going into the musical fantasy sequence. And I wanted to see what it was like working with choreographers and [doing] something different, because I do think it's really important for me. I love action, but I don't like seeing the same action again and again and again and again, which I'm sure you see even more movies than I do, and you just go, "Come on." That and the ice skating sequences were just, I thought, "Let's do stuff differently." And I also wanted to do it with a feminine twist, which I think those two sequences have."
Since "Argylle" is squarely focused on Bryce Dallas Howard as Elly Conway (aka Rachel Kylle), we see her go from being a damsel in distress to being this incredibly badass spy. But what's great about Elly's transition into Rachel is that she doesn't suddenly become this hardened, masculine female action hero. That's what makes the "feminine twist" that Vaughn described so refreshing. Having an action sequence be as much about visualizing a rekindled romance as it is about watching two spies beat up some faceless henchman, especially in such a flamboyant way, offers a new spin on the traditional action sequence. The same can be said for the other action sequence, which involves using makeshift ice skates with knives attached to combat boots to slide through a massive oil spill, all while taking down henchman.
'The dancing was what I was most intimidated by'
We asked Bryce Dallas Howard about bringing the colorful, smoke-filled, dance combat sequence to life, and it sounds like it ended up being even more intense than she expected. Howard recalled:
"That sequence in particular, and the ice skating sequence, were the sequences that never ended, because they just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And so we ended up near the end of the shoot, we would have our filming week, and then on Saturday we would go and we would do that sequence, and then the next week, on Saturday, we would do that sequence again. And it was just kind of chipping away at it. Obviously the stunt team was absolutely crucial and remarkable, and there are many things that this character does physically that I could never do. So yeah, it was about that partnership within that dance."
Howard was lucky enough to get to share a dance with Sam Rockwell, who is known for dancing in many of his movies, and he brought in people who helped him with FX's "Fosse/Verdon" miniseries, where he played famed choreographer Bob Fosse. She was actually far more worried about the dancing than the rest of the action:
"The dancing was what I was most intimidated by. When I was young, I was put in dance, and within a week they moved me to TaeKwonDo and Judo, which I then became very passionate about. My sensei is still a part of my life, and I ended up teaching martial arts. And so I'm comfortable with that stuff, but when it comes to the Cha Cha Cha, I'm like, "Oh, what do I do? What do I do?" And Sam was amazing and introduced me to a lot of folks who he worked with when he was playing Fosse, and they brought me up to speed as much as one can in a short period of time. And then thank God there were professional dancers on set."
No matter how anyone feels about the rest of the film, I'm glad Matthew Vaughn was able to bring this scene to life. It certainly makes me wonder what that full-on musical he's working on is going to be like.
Listen to our spoiler-filled conversation about Argylle
I had a spoiler-filled discussion with /Film editor Ben Pearson about "Argylle," its best and worst moments, whether all of those twists worked, where this ranks in Matthew Vaughn's filmography, and more. Check it out below:
You can subscribe to /Film Daily on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and send your feedback, questions, comments, concerns, and mailbag topics to us at bpearson@slashfilm.com. Please leave your name and general geographic location in case we mention your e-mail on the show!