10 Underhyped Movies That Blew Everyone Away

The Non-Hype

Ever since Layer Cake and Stardust cemented his directorial talent, Matthew Vaughn projects have always been something to look forward to. And yet, Kingsman: The Secret Service barely registered on the hype meter.

The movie launched in January here in the UK, which, as we mentioned, isn't typically a month for standout projects. Avengers: Age of Ultron and Jurassic World were just around the corner too, and the excitement for those movies was at its peak, two huge blockbusters that were sucking up all the buzz. Kingsman didn't stand a chance.

It definitely looked cool, like something fresh within the comic-book movie space, but honestly, did anyone expect one of the best movies of the year, one of the most iconic fight scenes of all time, and for the flick to be a massive mainstream success, grossing over $400 million worldwide? No. But that's exactly what happened.

The Big Reaction

As Kingsman began its global rollout, you could just feel the energy surrounding it starting to grow: Colin Firth's cool-as-a-cucumber Harry Hart, Taron Egerton's foul-mouthed and funny Eggsy, the cheeky humour, the insane violence, the goddamn church scene. The movie wasn't just good - it was unbelievably good, and right from its opening weekend, it was clear that we'd all just witnessed something rather special.

The Secret Service was the definition of a surprise hit, creating such a solid foundation on which to build a franchise that there's still a lot of excitement about this property today, even though sequel The Golden Circle was a major misstep.