"We Didn't Make Citizen Kane, But F**king Hell": Argylle's scathing comments directly addressed by Matthew Vaughn
Matthew Vaughn freely shares his dismay with Argylle's poor evaluations. Star-studded ensemble includes Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Sam Rockwell breaks director Vaughn's winning run from recent films like the Kingsman series. One of 2024's most infamous box office flops, Argylle got poor Reviews.
Argylle's poor response is discussed by Vaughn in an Empire interview. The director admitted that seeing the "vitriolic" reaction to the action flick "got to [him]" was really depressing. He then went on to say that audience responses to the film differed greatly from what test screenings had to offer. Looking over Reviews, he pondered "what have I done to upset these folks?" Maintaining a good attitude, Cavill said, "You learn from these things."
Matthew Vaughn Regain His Stature Following Argylle?
Why Vaughn probably feels so much shock at the Argylle criticism is the gap between Argylle's response and that of the rest of his filmmaking career. Though his most recent films have received mixed reviews, nothing has been as bad as Argylle. Moreover, most of Vaughn's directorial efforts has produced good Tomatometers. Having grown used to the comfort of such favorable response, Vaughn was probably taken aback by the extreme criticism he received following Argylle.
Argylle's bad reviews were made worse by a poor Box Office performance. Over its duration, the movie attracted just $96.1 million globally. Losing millions, the movie fell well short of recovering its $200 million projected expenditure. Argylle 2 has been discussed notwithstanding these negative evaluations and underperformance. Perhaps Vaughn sees a sequel as a means of righting the mistakes of his hurried first effort.
Matthew Vaughn's Past
Matthew Vaughn's Film | RT Audience Score | RT Critics Score
2004 Layer Cake | 81% | 84%
Stardust 2007 | 77% | 86%
2010 Kick-Ass | 77% | 81%
First Class X-Men 2011 | 86% | 87%
Kingsman: The Secret Service 2014 | 75% | 84%
Kingsman: The Golden Circle 2017 | 51% | 64%
Prince's Man (2021) | 40% | 80%
2024 Argylle | 33% | 72%
Argylle: Viewing the Film Closer
Matthew Vaughn's action thriller Argylle is interesting. The film revolves on an introverted novelist pushed into the real world of espionage following the storyline of her most recent spy thriller parlering the misdeeds of an underground syndicate. Among others, Argylle stars Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Dua Lipa, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Viewers were looking forward the film with its interesting narrative arc. The group of performers also helped to generate this expectation. Genuine fans of the genre probably expected a top-notch movie.
The Prospect of Matthew Vaughn
Argylle 2 is not the only means Vaughn may achieve artistic atonement in the next years. Though he is not directing it, Vaughn is linked as a producer to the Damien Walters-directed production The Stuntman. The complete story of the film is yet to be revealed, but it does tell the story of two brothers who became stuntmen, and is helmed by one of the former stunt team members from Vaughn’s projects. This film shows promise, and thus could set Vaughn up on a more positive creative path after his Argylle failure.
Apple TV+ has Argylle streaming available.
Vaughn's Reflexive Reaction
F*ck yeah. My guard came down on Argylle. We had done test screenings that had gone fantastically well. The premiere was a really fun night, and it was like going back to the Snatch days where there was such excitement. And I started drinking the Kool-Aid. It’s a fun, feel-good movie, or I thought it was a fun, feel-good movie. We didn’t make Citizen Kane, but f*cking hell, then the reviews came out and I’m like, ‘Wait, what have I done to offend these people?’ They were vitriolic. I’m not saying the movie’s perfect by any means, but I didn’t think it was offensive. That took me by surprise. I even went round to cinemas because I thought, ‘Maybe I’ve lost the plot now.’ It did rattle me. I’m genuinely scratching my head about that, because you can’t ignore it. It wasn’t like [just] a few bad reviews. It is what it is. You learn from these things.
Source: Empire
