Starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Henry Cavill, Sofia Boutella, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, and Samuel L. Jackson.

Directed by Matthew Caughn

Apple, in cinemas now

A reclusive author who writes espionage novels discovers that the plot of her new book is mirroring real-world events, in real time.

After a run of three Kingsman movies, director Matthew Vaughn delivers a similarly over-the-top action thriller with Argylle, but with the sadism, misogyny and swearing taken out. So, while it’s now a lot more family-friendly and less offensive, it’s also a bit too pleased with itself.

The premise is that dowdy cat lady author Ellie (Bryce Dallas Howard) is so good at predicting real-world espionage that real spies want to stop her. She’s helped by spy Aidan (Sam Rockwell) who takes her on the run, evading assassins working for a top-secret organisation. And there’s a great cast here – Henry Cavill, Samuel L Jackson, Bryan Cranston – all playing their roles in a plot that twists and turns its way through countless spy cliches. It’s undemanding as it whizzes along, and there’s even a cute cat in backpack.

But (and yes there’s a big but here) it all feels regressive, as if the blood, sex and swearing has been removed under duress from the Vaughn formula. Accordingly, the violence is dishonest in an A-Team style – machine guns blaze and knives are thrown, but there’s no carnage to reveal the consequences. Maybe it exists in such a comic book world that we aren’t meant to take any of it seriously. The action sequences are accomplished and ridiculous – one involving ice skating through oil is quite remarkable – but it’s all so disposable and slight that it’s left you before you’ve exited the auditorium.

Verdict: Superficial, glossy CGI mayhem, but it passes the time easily in the most undemanding way. 5/10

Nick Joy