Every Matthew Vaughn Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

Kick-Ass came along at exactly the right moment, a time when superheroes were taking over Hollywood and needed taking down a peg or two.

Dave Lizewski and Hit-Girl tore them a new one with their relentless c-bombs, balls-to-the-wall violence and irreverent humour. Was it all in bad taste? Probably. But as a satire of the genre it worked on so many levels.

Matthew Vaughn's comic book adaptation threw punches where other action films pulled them, was perfectly paced, and its action scenes were slick and stylish. More than seven years later, and Hit-Girl is still the coolest thing in a cape.

Kick-Ass was boosted by strong performances from Nicolas Cage, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloe Grace Moretz in the central roles, all of whom embraced the brutality while bringing heart and humour to the story.

Vaughn was the ideal director for Kick-Ass, as both the comics and the filmmaker have a thing for genre subversion, edgy humour and unbridled violence.