The two movies that influenced Matthew Vaughn the most: “I like being entertained”
It became very clear fairly quickly which genre of filmmaking Matthew Vaughn favoured above all others, not that it was readily apparent in his debut as a director.
After producing Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and the disastrous Swept Away – in addition to gangland thriller The Innocent Sleep and Vinnie Jones’ sports comedy remake Mean Machine – Vaughn struck out on his own and tried his hand at directing.
Layer Cake was an accomplished start, with the hard-boiled crime story hardly dissimilar from the sort of labyrinthine tales that he’d overseen alongside Ritchie. Still, it would be an understatement to say he hasn’t returned to even remotely similar territory in the two decades since.
After flirting with blockbuster superhero sequel X-Men: The Last Stand, Vaughn instead adapted Neil Gaiman’s lavish fantasy Stardust for the screen for his second feature. He followed it up with raucous R-rated comic book caper Kick-Ass before finally getting his shot at Marvel’s merry band of mutants with the prequel First Class.
Since then, though, he’s remained exclusively in the world of on-screen espionage. Being rejected for the Casino Royale director’s chair must have had a profound effect on the lifelong James Bond fan because he’s spent over a decade making nothing but action-packed and gadget-heavy spy flicks that have allowed him to tick off virtually every box associated with 007 bar the suave secret agent himself.
Kingsman: The Secret Service spawned sequel The Golden Circle and prequel The King’s Man before his follow-up Argylle told another twisting tale of subterfuge on an international scale, which then proceeded to tie itself directly into his other franchise to set up a potential crossover between the two.
Next up is the mysterious Project X, which was shot in secret over the course of 11 weeks with Chris Hemsworth and Sam Rockwell in the lead roles, which will prove to be a massive change of pace for the filmmaking. Just kidding, it’s yet another spy thriller, which makes it five in a row.
And yet, when Vaughn was asked by Phase 9 at the very beginning of his directorial career which two movies inspired him the most, not only was Bond nowhere to be found, but his answers occupy parameters that he’s yet to tackle in a notable capacity.
“Well, Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark,” he said. “I like being entertained. Give me a big bag of popcorn and a big Hollywood movie, and I am happy.” That explains why his output has been so frivolous and geared towards appealing to the widest possible audience, even if he’s never taken on a sci-fi project and the closest he’s come to the old-fashioned period-set adventures of Indiana Jones was The King’s Man.
Maybe one day he’ll seize that opportunity, but based on his filmography since 2014, it’s remarkable that 007 wasn’t singled out as a key influence.
