Matthew Vaughn is one of the biggest names in the film industry right now especially when it comes to the film adaptation of subversive comic book franchises or other literature. Despite his renown, however, he has a rather conservative portfolio when it comes to movies he himself directed. In fact, there are only seven in total right now with another one still undergoing production.
With that said, all of Matthew Vaughn's films have made quite a splash thanks to their faithfulness to the source material as well as his own standards as a filmmaker. Even though he has fewer films compared to other directors in his weight class, Matthew Vaughn's films are all good at the very least. Here's how they rank up against one another.
7 The King's Man
- Release year: 2021
- Genre: Action, Comedy, Adventure
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 65%
The King's Man is Matthew Vaughn's latest foray into the film industry and it serves as a prequel to the famous and trendsetting Kingsman series. It's also based on the graphic novel written by Mark Millar. In any case, The King's Man explores the origins of Britain's first secret service, aptly named King's Man. It consists of exceptional gentlemen who put up a posh facade under their lethal training and espionage skills.
What sets it apart from other spy thrillers or action-adventure films is the setting. The King's Man is set during World War 1 where the secret service is supposed to foil a cabal of powerful and influential despots from making the great war even worse. Mainly, it's a chance for viewers to see Rasputin square off against spy granddaddies as he's one of the villains in this film. At times, The King's Man can appear like it's struggling to find its footing as it might look like any other spy or war film if it took itself too seriously, hence the more comedic execution with a meme version of Rasputin at the forefront.
6 Kingsman: The Golden Circle
- Release year: 2017
- Genre: Action, Comedy, Adventure
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 64%
Kingsman: The Golden Circle is the direct sequel to the first Kingsman film (more on that one later). Both are set in a contemporary setting where the Kingsman secret service has lived on throughout the UK and the world's modernization. The film starts off on a different note as it puts its fabled organization in disarray. In this sequel, the Kingsman secret service is nearly extinct save for a couple of members.
Thankfully, they're not the only secret service in existence as lo and behold, there's also a spy agency in the US and they're called the Statesman. As one can imagine, this sequel is more of a wacky culture clash adventure between the two spy services. It's more of the same but that's not much of a bad thing considering the first film was a well-received subversion of the Bond franchise.
5 Kingsman: The Secret Service
- Release year: 2014
- Genre: Action, Comedy, Adventure
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 84%
So far, it's the highest-rated Kingsman film and it's also the first. Kingsman: The Secret Service is an adaptation of the popular graphic novel by Mark Millar. The film is a grand and unapologetically ridiculous spy adventure where the protagonist is a young and clueless prodigy who wasn't aware that his father worked for a secret service. He was promptly and conveniently recruited in a time where a villain played by none other than Samuel Jackson, is plotting to solve Global Warming by killing off human populations.
With a plot this outlandish, it's almost a callback to the Bond films of old where the antagonists are Saturday-morning cartoon villain caricatures. However, Kingsman makes it work by jamming in action more creatively wild compared to other spy action films. One of the film's strengths is that it doesn't take itself too seriously despite the rather dire plot and subject matters.
4 Stardust
- Release year: 2007
- Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 86%
Stardust is Matthew Vaughn's film adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel of the same name. At its core, it's a coming-of-age story but with a male protagonist though it's very much suitable for the male and female gaze (and even some LGBTQ+ inclusivity thanks to Robert de Niro's character). Stardust follows Tristan's pursuit of romance where he ventures off to the land of fairies to claim a fallen star.
He does this in order to win the heart of the village heartthrob. Tristan, however, didn't expect that he'd go from a clueless boy to a dashing swashbuckling man as he finds a better purpose in the world other than appeasing a spoiled girl. Stardust has all the makings of a classic and lighthearted adventure akin to fairy tales such as Peter Pan. It's formulaic to a fault but nevertheless, a film that doesn't leave its viewers stressed or anxious. It's practically a fairy-tale for young adults and adults who have outgrown Disney's offerings.
3 X-Men: First Class
- Release year: 2011
- Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Superhero
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 87%
Fun Fact: Matthew Vaughn was supposed to fully direct X-Men: Last Stand but dropped out which is unfortunate because the original X-Men trilogy would have had a good sendoff. Thankfully, he was brought back to helm the franchise again in X-Men: First Class which is a prequel that explores the past of the franchise OGs such as Magneto and Professor X back in their heyday.
As expected from Matthew Vaughn, the film became one of (if not) the most faithful and impressive adaptations of X-Men on the silver screen. It was highly political without trying too hard and the film did a great job of introducing its plethora of characters and developing them in such a short time. Moreover, it definitely gave justice to Magneto and Professor X's dynamics and tarnished relationship as the two prominent clashing ideologies in the franchise.
2 Layer Cake
- Release year: 2004
- Genre: Crime, Drama
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 84%
For many directors, their directorial debut film is usually a pilot episode to see how well they'll do out in the big wide world. Thus, those tend to have lukewarm scores and reception. Matthew Vaughn's Layer Cake, however, is different from most directorial debuts as it's well-received and even contributed much to the James Bond franchise.
That's because it was Layer Cake that greatly helped Daniel Craig snag the Bond role. In it, he plays a retired cocaine dealer who planned to cut ties with his career but was roped into a series of doublecrosses and betrayals before he could retire. Layer Cake masterfully depicts the rich and the elite's criminal underbelly, dragging along a reluctant but still charismatic and refined Craig into the messy and two-faced affairs of mid-level drug dealing.
1 Kick-Ass
- Release year: 2010
- Genre: Action, Comedy, Superhero
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 81%
Kick-Ass might not be the highest-rated Matthew Vaughn film, but it got the most nominations and presumably made Matthew Vaughn's portfolio a lot more colorful. This is an adaptation of another graphic novel authored by Mark Millar again (seemingly Vaughn's favorite author). Suffice to say, a superhero film of Kick-Ass's proportions could have easily turned bad.
Other directors might have turned it into a run-of-the-mill American teenage comedy/drama but Matthew Vaughn made it work with flying colors. Kick-Ass follows Dave Lizewski's journey from zero to hero as he reinvents himself from a wimpy comic book nerd to a vigilante. The film's a lot tamer than its source material, truth be told, but still captures the best ideas of Mark Millar's grounded worldbuilding and subversive superhero narratives.