The Movies: Kick-Ass (2010), X-Men: First Class (2011) Matthew Vaughn's name pretty much guarantees a product of quality, so it's no wonder that the Layer Cake and Stardust director has helmed two of the best comic book movie films of all-time in Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class, which were both released within a year of one another to rave reviews. Though he started his career as a producer on films like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Vaughn soon tried his hand at directing: his style, clean and confident, has earned him positive notes, and he's a deft hand at staging action and casting actors. Kick-Ass showed Vaughn as something of a provocateur - the movie, based on a comic book written by Mark Miller, set out to deconstruct superhero and comic book tropes, and did so through scenes involving relentless violence and swearing children But for anyone who thought that Vaughn's tongue would remain firmly in his cheek for his next venture, X-Men: First Class, not so: his comic book prequel hit all the right notes of sadness and excitement and humour, whilst remaining true - and respectful - of the already established X-Men canon.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
