Granting itself a licence to be absurd, the latest slice of mischievous mayhem from Kingsman helmer Matthew Vaughn is a tongue-in-cheek espionage actioner, the first in a planned trilogy. Contrary to what some of the Henry Cavill-fronted marketing would have you believe, the lead here is Bryce Dallas Howard; she plays mild-mannered Elly Conway, author of a popular spy series featuring the suave, velvet-sporting Argylle (Cavill in cad mode, his hair styled into an alarming, Simon Cowell-esque flattop).

Elly teams up with Sam Rockwell’s far less dapper real-world spy Aidan, who believes that she has stumbled onto a conspiracy in her latest novel and needs her help to put the final pieces together. In their efforts, the pair are pitted against a devious group of corrupt spies, led by Bryan Cranston’s Ritter. Dua Lipa, Catherine O’Hara, Samuel L Jackson and John Cena provide the support.

There’s nothing more annoying than a film that thinks it’s clever but whose endless reliance on other people’s ideas reveals it to be anything but. Argylle takes an Austin Powers-like approach to its Bond emulation, while also owing sizeable debts to superior films like Spy, The Lost City, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and more.

Things switch rapidly from novel to patience-stretching, with the tediously tricksy antics eventually clocking in at well over two hours. Vaughn fans will lap up the OTT action and knowing air but, unlike his earlier Kick-Ass, Argylle is sorely lacking real wit or edge. There’s not a lot that stands out here, save a bonkers gun battle featuring love hearts and clouds of rainbow-coloured smoke that somehow manages to make you cringe during the carnage.

Argylle is in cinemas from Friday 2 February.