Oscar-worthy stunt and action, shocking twists, beautiful music: Check out positive reactions from the world premiere of “Argylle”

Critics who got to join the world premiere of Argylle in London are singing praises of the latest star-studded spy flick from director Matthew Vaughn… with one even joining the call for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize the stunt industry and include a Best Stunt award at the Oscars.

Critic Luis Fernando, who writes for Empire magazine, joined the calls for a Best Stunt award at the Oscars because of how impressed he was with the action of Argylle. “Just had a blast watching #Argylle” he posted on X. “1- It’s past time for stunts to have an #Oscars category! 2- If #Argylle had come out in 2023, it would dominate the Best Original Song nominations along with #Barbie. Banger after banger. #ElectricEnergy is THE BOMB!” 

The Beatles' “Now and Then” is the heart of the soundtrack of “Argylle,” Matthew Vaughn’s latest action-packed, star-studded spy movie

At the heart of Argylle’s soundtrack and score is the just released new, and final, song from The Beatles, “Now and Then.” 

In Argylle, Bryce Dallas Howard is Elly Conway, the reclusive author of a series of best-selling espionage novels, whose idea of bliss is a night at home with her computer and her cat, Alfie. But when the plots of Elly’s fictional books – which center on secret agent Argylle and his mission to unravel a global spy syndicate – begin to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organization, quiet evenings at home become a thing of the past. Accompanied by Aidan (Sam Rockwell), a cat-allergic spy, Elly (carrying Alfie in her backpack) races across the world to stay one step ahead of the killers as the line between Elly’s fictional world and her real one begins to blur. The cast includes Henry Cavill, John Cena, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Samuel L. Jackson, Ariana DeBose and Dua Lipa.

Visionary filmmaker Matthew Vaughn talks about his inspiration for “Argylle,” his latest action-packed, star-studded spy movie

Bryce Dallas Howard and Sam Rockwell in “Argylle” Photo Credit: “Universal Pictures”

In 2020, with the world in lockdown, visionary filmmaker Matthew Vaughn – the director and producer of “The Kingsman” films, “Kick-Ass” and “Stardust” – sat down at his home outside London and decided to stage a film-appreciation class for his wife, Claudia Vaughn (née Schiffer), and their two daughters, who were around 10 and 15 years old at the time. 

“Because it was lockdown, it gave me license to keep screening movies for them to watch,” Vaughn says. He showed them movie after movie, including Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 classic “North by Northwest,” in which an ordinary man (albeit one who looks like Cary Grant) gets swept up in an extraordinary, espionage-tinged adventure. His girls went crazy for it. “And I thought, ‘I want to make a movie like that for my daughters,’” Vaughn says.