Argylle

Silly, cute and fun. see, this is why you have to take a movie’s aspirations into account. If you approach this flick with the expectation that it will be a towering work of masterful cinema, then you have missed the point from the first few moments. Clearly, we’re in the realm of fluffy entertainment, and given that parameter, this entry achieves what it aims for. Bryce Dallas Howard is the greatest strength here; she’s adorable from her first scene and it’s her presence that makes everything go here. Even when she loses a touch of that luster midway through the story—there’s a tactical error in terms of characterization at that point, but it’s not fatal—Howard still brings enough charm and funny vibes to carry the tale to its satisfying conclusion. Also, there’s a cat who plays a big role, so that’s guaranteed fun right there. No new filmmaking epoch gets started here, but you’ll have a good time with this one if you let it be what it is. Discover that secret and you’ll find the key to being a good movie watcher. 

The Suicide Squad

This one is very slick and stylish. Also, it's funny and violent and gory. What it isn’t is riveting all the way through. The movie comes across more a series of set pieces and setups and punchlines rather than a fully-realized and well-told narrative. Director James Gunn--he's getting the lion's share of the credit for this flick, whatever it may be--pays a lot of attention to "don’t this look cool?" but not as much to "does any of this make much sense?" Viewed on its own terms, the film is entertaining to a point, funny to a point, and worth a watch, if you're the kind of viewer who likes this sort of thing. That there is the rub: is this your kind of movie, and are you this kind of movie's audience. It's a question that's more fraught than you might think. It's hard to deny, from a rational and (ironically) bloodless point of view, that a movie like this is, in certain respects the sign of a sick society. It’s too casually bloodstained and crude to be anything you’d consider quality entertainment. And if you’re someone who is entertained by this flick--and many will fall into that category, perhaps even me--then you should probably start asking some questions about yourself, if not the society as a whole. That's all a little bit deep for a movie that clearly does not aim to be deep itself, but sometimes the big questions arise from the minor matters. From a pure filmgoer's standpoint, this one is probably a near-miss--and if that dooms any potential sequels, maybe that's not a bad thing.