Matthew Vaughn’s new spy action comedy movie Argylle is getting poor reviews from critics. The film has an incredible ensemble cast, including Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, and Samuel L. Jackson. Still, those stars aren’t enough to keep it from being ripped to shreds.
Critics have targeted its convoluted plot, excessive runtime, and general silliness as significant faults, but plenty of people still claim to have enjoyed it.
Those who did enjoy it should undoubtedly check out Matthew Vaughn’s better films, many of which share some characteristics with Argylle. These are five of them.
Layer Cake (2004)
Layer Cake is the first movie Matthew Vaughn directed and remains one of his best. The British crime thriller has plenty of energy like Argylle but a far more gripping story. Based on J.J. Connolly’s 2000 novel of the same name, it follows a London-based criminal working in the cocaine trade and his efforts to escape the world of drugs.
It stars Daniel Craig as the otherwise unnamed criminal XXXX, and his co-stars include Colm Meaney, Sienna Miller, and the late Michael Gambon. Layer Cake is brilliantly stylized, intelligent, exciting, well-performed, and exceptionally cool. Craig is utterly superb in the lead role.
Streaming on Amazon Prime and Netflix.
Stardust (2007)
The romantic fantasy adventure movie Stardust is based on Neil Gaiman’s 1999 novel of the same name. It’s about a young Englishman who lives in the little town of Wall on the border of the magical fantasy kingdom of Stormhold. He heads there to obtain a fallen star for his beloved Victoria, hoping she’ll marry him.
Ian McKellen narrates and it stars a fantastic ensemble cast, including Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Robert De Niro, Ricky Gervais, Sienna Miller, Jason Flemyng, Rupert Everett, Peter O’Toole, and Michelle Pfeiffer. Stardust is as fun and playful as Argylle but much more exciting, funnier, and packed with surprises that will entertain adults and children alike.
Streaming on Amazon Prime.
Kick-Ass (2010)
Kick-Ass is a black comedy superhero movie based on Marvel’s Hit-Girl & Kick-Ass comic books. It’s about an everyday teenager, Dave Lizewski, who takes it upon himself to become a real-life superhero named “Kick-Ass” and gets tangled in a dangerous world of criminals and hardcore crime-fighting vigilantes.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson is excellent and incredibly likable in the eponymous role. His tremendous supporting cast of Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloë Grace Moretz, Mark Strong, and Nicolas Cage each add something significant to the film. Kick-Ass has better action and superior humor than Argyle. It’s deliciously violent, gory, and thoroughly entertaining from beginning to end, with an admirably distinct visual style. Excitingly, a new Kick-Ass movie is said to be coming.
Streaming on Amazon Prime.
X-Men: First Class (2013)
X-Men: First Class is the fifth installment in Fox’s X-Men superhero franchise and a prequel to the original trilogy. The movie’s events occur mainly during 1962’s Cuban Missile Crisis. It chronicles the relationship between Charles Xavier, AKA Professor X, and Erik Lehnsherr, AKA Magneto, and the formation of their respective groups, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. The villainous Hellfire Club and their mutant supremacist leader, Sebastian Shaw, complicate their plights.
The distinguished cast, led by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, includes Rose Byrne, Nicholas Hoult, January Jones, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, and Jason Flemyng. The action is superior to Argylle’s, and X-Men: First Class utilizes its impressive ensemble better. It’s well-written, stylishly directed, and bursting with youthful exuberance.
Streaming on Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Disney+.
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
The first of three movies in the Kingsman franchise (two more are planned), Kingsman: The Secret Service is by far the best. Based on the Millarworld comic book of the same name, it’s a spy action comedy movie, like Aryglle is. It follows the recruitment of a young man, Gary “Eggsy” Unwin, into the eponymous secret spy organization by experienced agent Harry Hart and the hilarity that ensues when Eggsy joins a brutal mission.
Colin Firth plays Hart, and Taron Egerton plays Eggsy, and their chemistry makes the film. Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong, Mark Hamill, and Michael Caine lead the impressive supporting cast. Although it’s the same movie genre as Argylle, Kingsman: The Secret Service is superior in every way. It’s utterly joyful, funny, action-packed, well-performed, and a lovely-looking production.
Streaming on Amazon Prime and Disney+.
