Matthew Vaughn's Best Movie Is Like None Of His Others

When I think about Matthew Vaughn's directing career, the image that primarily comes to mind is that of a provocateur, a filmmaker who enjoys prodding his audience a little while bucking familiar conventions. He famously did that with "Kick-Ass" in 2010, doubled down on provocation with the "Kingsman" movies, and is poised to do it again with his latest spy film, "Argylle," which hits theaters today. He seems to prefer entering through the side door rather than taking a head-on approach, opting for more unorthodox methods of storytelling wherever possible.

But that wasn't always the case. 2007's "Stardust," Vaughn's second directorial feature, does not have the cultural reputation as some of his other films, but upon rewatch, it was surprising to see Vaughn operating in a more straightforward zone — one that doesn't seem as desperate to push the envelope and is confident enough in the nuts and bolts of the story (he co-wrote the script with Jane Goldman, based on a book by Neil Gaiman) to let the classical nature of the film shine through. 

With the "Kingsman" movies, Vaughn is heightening the tropes of a James Bond film and taking them to ridiculous lengths. The characters almost seem aware that they're in a movie; while the actual Bond films occasionally flirted with that level of self-awareness, you can sense the irony in Taron Egerton's smirks. In "Stardust," though, Vaughn delivers a fantasy adventure that feels like a spiritual successor to "The Princess Bride," something with charm and creativity and wide-eyed wonder. It's wholly devoid of the irony that infuses so many of his other projects. In other words, it's the least "Matthew Vaughn" of all of Matthew Vaughn's movies.

While "Stardust" is largely a straight-ahead adventure, there are still a few moments where you can feel Vaughn leaning in from the sidelines and upending conventions. The most notable example can be seen in basically every scene involving Robert De Niro's Captain Shakespeare: In public, Shakespeare is a sky pirate with a fearsome reputation (similar to the Dread Pirate Roberts from "The Princess Bride"), but away from the prying eyes of his crew, he's more of a gentleman pirate who would almost certainly enjoy hanging out with "Our Flag Means Death" protagonist Stede Bonnet. You get the sense that Vaughn absolutely delighted in seeing De Niro play so wildly against type, and the loving portrayal of the character largely holds up today, even though the film came out a little over 16 years ago and was released in a drastically different social climate.

Personally, I'd love to see Vaughn return to this type of filmmaking again. It just probably won't be for "Stardust 2." 

We spoke about "Stardust" and the rest of Vaughn's directorial efforts on today's episode of the /Film Daily podcast, which you can listen to below:

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