Matthew Vaughn Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best. This week, I'm profiling the work of Matthew Vaughn-whose latest project "Argylle" releases in theaters on Thursday night. 

7.Stardust (2007):

Vaughn's first major studio feature stands out among his filmography in the worst way imaginable. While it deserves props for swinging for the fences, Stardust is ultimately a gratingly cheesy, unwieldy mess of a movie whose jam-packed genre cornucopia (fairy tale, adventure, fantasy, romance, steampunk, comedy) never adds up to a coherent or satisfying whole.      

Grade: D+

6.The King's Man (2021):

Outside of the scenes with Rasputin (Rhys Ifans in full-blown character actor ham mode), Kingsman prequel The King's Man is a surprisingly serious, occasionally downright dour affair that doesn't fit the mold of the franchise. Despite its puzzling shift in tone, a very good lead performance from Ralph Fiennes and another string of terrific action sequences are enough to make it worth a watch.    

Grade: B

5.Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017):

The Golden Circle suffered from the unfair, yet inevitable affliction of heightened expectations brought on by being the sequel to a beloved surprise hit film. While it never quite matches the brilliance of its predecessor, this bigger, nuttier sequel does feature a super fun sadistic villain turn from Julianne Moore, a pre-superstardom Pedro Pascal showing off the charisma that has made him one of Hollywood's most in-demand actors today and a whole lot of satisfying, well-constructed over-the-top action setpieces.          

Grade: B+

4.X-Men: First Class (2011):

So much has happened in the world of superhero movies since the summer of 2011 that X-Men: First Class has managed to get kind of lost in the shuffle, which is unfortunate since it's a pretty great movie. Vaughn found a way to launch a new era of X-Men by focusing on the relationship between the young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnserr (Michael Fassbender). McAvoy and Fassbender gracefully overcome being in the shadow of Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan respectively to deliver their own equally terrific takes on these classic characters and it was very rewarding to go back and see how the classic battle lines between mutants were drawn. Whatever unlucky soul is tasked with integrating a new set of X-Men into the MCU will have a tough time matching the gracefulness of First Class' origin story.        

Grade: B+

3.Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015):

A crass, cartoony and gory send-up of James Bond is a tremendous idea and there was nobody better to deliver it to the world than Vaughn. His familiarity with graphic novel adaptations and traditional blockbusters gives this film the perfect combination of huge scope and hyperstylized sleaziness, Taron Edgerton's casting as a brash British street punk turned suave secret agent is nothing short of perfect and the church fight is a true jaw-dropper that remains one of the finest pieces of action filmmaking that I've ever seen.     

Grade: A-

2.Layer Cake (2005):

Is Vaughn's debut feature basically just a riff on Guy Ritchie's Cockney gangster comedies-which he produced? No question. But when the dialogue is this sharp, the visuals/editing are this slick and the characters are this engaging, it really doesn't matter how much it owes or borrows from other great films that came before it.  

Grade: A 

1.Kick-Ass (2010): 

Gritty, colorful and completely off-the-rails, Kick-Ass is a masterful graphic novel adaptation that I'd argue is among the 3 best R-rated "superhero" movies ever made. Vaughn has publicly stated in recent months that he hopes to make a new Kick-Ass film after turning over the keys to Jeff Wadlow for 2013's Kick-Ass 2, but quite frankly, I'd only want to see that film if Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloe Grace Moretz-who are the primary reason all of this sadistic madness works-are involved in at least some capacity.      

Grade: A