Argylle director Matthew Vaughn confronts ‘vitriolic’ response to film: ‘Took me by surprise’
Argylle director Matthew Vaughn has addressed the negative reaction to his recent spy caper, saying that when he read the “vitriolic” reviews he thought he personally attacked someone.
The film, which stars Bryce Dallas Howard as a reclusive spy novelist drawn into the real world of espionage, was widely panned upon its release in February.
It currently has a 33 percent score on reviews aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, while The Independent’s Louis Chilton opined that: “Argylle is a disaster for all involved” especially Henry Cavill as the titular super spy.
Writer-director Vaughn, 53, was asked by Empire whether he was disappointed by the lackluster reaction to the film.
“F*** yeah,” replied Vaughn. “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.”
Vaughn previously produced Guy Ritchie’s Snatch in 2000. He went on to explain that he expected Argylle to be received in a light-hearted way.
“It’s a fun, feel-good movie, or I thought it was a fun, feel-good movie,” he said. “We didn’t make Citizen Kane, but f***ing 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.”
He revealed that he visited screenings of the film to try and understand what had gone wrong. “I even went round to cinemas because I thought, ‘Maybe I’ve lost the plot now.’ It did rattle me,” he remembered. “I’m genuinely scratching my head about that, because you can’t ignore it. It wasn’t like [just] a few bad reviews.”
Vaughn added he remains hopeful that the film may overcome its many detractors and spawn a franchise.
“We’re doing very well on streaming,” he pointed out. “People are liking it. Nothing would make me happier than making another one. I’m getting texts saying, ‘Wow, those reviews were f***ing harsh!’ The more we can get people to watch Argylle, the more chance we make another one. I’d love to make another one, we’ve got it planned.”
In a three-star review of Argylle,The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey wrote that beyond the action sequences, the film’s real selling point is a romance that’s “dorky, sweet and likeable”.
