April 27, 2024 • 35 mins
https://letterboxd.com/needsintro/
This episode of 'Need Some Introduction' dives deep into the careers of filmmakers Guy Ritchie and Matthew Vaughn, examining their individual successes, failures, and the fascinating parallel paths their careers have taken. It discusses Ritchie's early life, his breakthrough with films like 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' and 'Snatch', and his rocky career phases, including his marriage to Madonna and box office flops, leading up to his recent successes with Netflix's 'The Gentleman' series and other projects. Matthew Vaughn's journey from Ritchie's production partner to successful director with films like 'Layer Cake', 'Stardust', and 'Kingsman' series is also explored. The episode critically analyzes the distinct styles of both directors, their impact on modern cinema, and speculates on their future projects and potential career directions.
00:00 Introduction to Guy Ritchie and Matthew Vaughn's Parallel Careers 00:58 Guy Ritchie's Early Life and Breakthrough 02:31 Ritchie's Signature Style and Early Successes 06:05 Career Challenges and Personal Life Turmoil 08:13 Matthew Vaughn's Rising Career and Diverging Paths 09:22 Ritchie's Comeback with Sherlock Holmes and Subsequent Successes 14:12 The Gentleman: A Return to Form and Netflix Success 17:58 Comparing Ritchie and Vaughn's Recent Projects and Future Outlook 33:39 Final Thoughts and Upcoming Content
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Victor (00:00):
Welcome everybody to another episode of Need Some Introduction.
In today's episode, I will be breakingdown the career of Guy Ritchie and the
interesting parallel he's had with hisproduction partner, Matthew Vaughn.
At the moment, Guy Ritchie not only hashad a very successful Netflix series,
The Gentleman, his own adaptation of hisfilm, but just this week, the Matthew
(00:21):
Vaughn film Argyle premiered on Apple TVAnd the recently very prolific Guy Ritchie
also has the Ministry of UngentlemanlyWarfare playing in theaters right now.
And these two filmmakers have avery interesting trajectory where
almost exclusively one is havingsuccess while the other is not.
And I find that an interesting parallel.
(00:42):
Also very interesting in seeing.
The ministry of Junto Ley warfare inthe same week that I finally caught up
with Argyle, both films that featureHenry Cavel trading Barbs , with a
Burley sidekick, and how much moresuccessful one film is versus the other.
So Richie dropped outta schoolwhen he was only 15 years.
He apparently kept getting intotrouble, had girls up in his room,
(01:04):
apparently was the main reason he waskicked out, but he was never a good
student and suffered from dyslexia.
I think his parents were workingclass, but interestingly, both of
them eventually married into royalty.
And maybe this is some of the fixationhe has in his films between the posh
meets underclass cultural collisionsthat often happen in his films.
(01:25):
Even at an early age, pretty soon, hestarted to find himself gravitating
to the film industry and justworking on any kind of menial task
on film or music video production.
And Britain was about to have a muchbigger footprint in the international
movie market, coming off of FourWeddings and a Funeral, the huge
international success of that film.
As well as the full monty another huge hitwhich had all followed up on the surprise
(01:49):
success of the crying game And of courseDanny Boyle's train spotting had come out
in 1996 so Richie had slowly worked hisway up on the productions He had worked
on had started to direct some music videosAnd had befriended Matthew Vaughn, who
was the godson of Peter Morton, who's oneof the founders of the Hard Rock Café.
And through this friendship, and throughhis movie connections, and through
(02:11):
family connections to Trudy Stiler,Sting's wife, they eventually got
lock, stock, and two smoking barrels.
produced in 1998.
A minor hit in the United States,although a huge hit when it
eventually premiered on home video.
Internationally, this was a bighit, especially back in England.
He was immediately a cult hero.
(02:31):
For me, this film is a great callingcard, and you see almost all of his
strengths on display right away.
Of course we meet JasonStatham for the first time.
He'll become a huge starin the next decades.
Vinnie Jones is here, and comes backfor the Gentleman TV series, by the way.
But more importantly is what he bringsto lock stock as far as this particular
(02:53):
style, this hyperkinetic action that issimultaneously thrilling and slapstick.
There's this nonchalant coolnessamong all his characters.
And I think a secret weaponhere always is that he's able to
simultaneously , create this sense ofdanger, real stakes for the characters.
And yet it feels so lightand frothy and funny.
(03:14):
So there definitely are stakes.
And yet we're able to laugh even inthe worst of moments, because there's
this strange balancing act, somethingthat very few filmmakers can pull off.
Not even Quentin Tarantino.
He obviously is inspired byTarantino, but even Tarantino
doesn't even really want to.
Make this kind of tone or use thiskind of type of tone in his films.
So there's nothing as Excruciatinglytense as a Tarantino film, but there's
(03:38):
also this Nonchalant playfulness thatis also lacking in Tarantino's films
to this day I think this is one of hismost beloved films among his fans and
another thing that he has made a lot ofa signature to most of his films, and
something that I think is uniquely his.
, he makes it look easy so that he doesn'tget credit for it, which is also his
ability to have a very twisty, convolutedplot, to rewind action sequences, rewind
(04:02):
time periods, inject Important relevantinformation in the plot as needed and
sure Tarantino has done this Danny Boylehas done this many other filmmakers have
done this but the fluidity of it and thesimplicity of It and honestly when you
watch a guy Richie film It's as if you areconstantly confused as to what's actually
happening the plot But in the end it willall be made clear and it truly is clear
(04:26):
It's very easy to follow in the end.
So it is in some ways maybe diet colato what Tarantino does, let's say,
but sometimes that's what you want.
And as I mentioned, there are somany knockoffs of this style that
are incomprehensible and tediousand convoluted, and his style
is simultaneously very flashy.
(04:46):
Very energetic, but very easy to followafter the surprising success of that first
film he had a big fan in the United Statesin Brad Pitt who was trying to change
the type of roles he had been taking andComing off of Fight Club and right before
his comedically deadpan performance inthe oceans films Which really rejuvenated
his career to a large extent Right inbetween there, he did snatch in 2000.
(05:10):
For me, this is still Richie's best film,as is the case with so many of his films.
I couldn't tell you what happenedin the plot now that I've seen it.
But there are so many funny sight gags.
There are so many clever executionsof these fights in the ring and out.
And such a simple camaraderie amongthe cast, which features Benicio Del
Toro, Dennis Farina, Vinnie Jones,of course, Brad Pitt, of course, in a
(05:34):
small role, but very, very memorable.
So what if it's all pointless?
And once again, What This wouldbe maybe my biggest critique of
Richie, that there's a lot of style.
There's a lot of just cooloozing off the screen.
Honestly, most of these actorsis something that I think that's
why he continues to attracthigh caliber talent emerging and
already at the top of their game.
(05:54):
He writes characters that accentuate allthe coolness of that particular actor.
And everybody is just so memorable, inthis particular film, even if it doesn't
add up to really anything at all.
Now, after 2000, this is when thingsget very rough for his career.
Two significant things happen.
One, he gets into a very famousrelationship with Madonna.
They marry, have children, andMatthew Vaughn leaves as his producer.
(06:18):
He makes his biggest budget movie.
The swept away film starring Madonna.
And it is a catastrophic disaster.
The fact that Madonna near the peak ofher career resurrection in this very
public relationship marriage with GuyRitchie, and even with the notoriety of
the production of the film could not grosseven a few million dollars worldwide.
(06:39):
It just speaks to how absolutelydisastrous this film is.
He follows that up with an even strangerdecision, a film called Revolver.
This film is almost a complete failure.
However, if you are a Guy Ritchiefan, you should track it down.
I think it's very easy to stream.
Also, if you're a Jason Stathamfan, because Statham gives a
really excellent performance here.
(06:59):
In this attempt to be taken seriously,, to add some gravitas or depth to his
work, he makes this very esotericset in the universe of his previous
gangster films, but just dark andviolent and illogical, and really just
about these philosophical questions.
The film makes almost no sense at all,but I still admire it for his ambition
(07:21):
here, although mostly failing, but thegreediness of the film looks great, has
some pretty good action sequences andgreat performances across the board.
If only it made any sense at all.
This was his most expensive,Film at the time and another huge
flop and less than a year later.
He followed up with Rock and Rollaanother Gangster film very much
(07:42):
more in line with his earlier films.
This is very much an also ran Hehas still not recaptured the magic
of those early two films But thereare some very fun performances here.
Gerard Butler, Tom Hardy stands outhere before he emerges as a huge star.
Idris Elba, Thandie Newton, Mark Strong,just some of the other cast members here.
And it's in the trajectory of hiscareer, this was him moving back
(08:04):
into a more successful realm,but very much a less successful,
less captivating version of those.
First two gangster films.
As I mentioned before, MatthewVaughn had left the fold to go
out and become a director himself.
And talk about opposite trajectories.
As Guy Ritchie's career was going downin flames and he was struggling to
even get his next film off the ground,Vaughn had directed Layer Cake with a
(08:29):
pre James Bond, Daniel Craig, which onceagain, talking about just displaying
someone at their full charisma.
This film got Craig his first film.
James Bond role, a minor hit in theU S another one of these cult films,
but a huge hit internationally.
And he followed that up in a verydifferent vein, a fantasy film,
, surprising how strong visually thisfilm is with someone who's had such
(08:53):
little experience with special effectsat that time, a film called Stardust.
And I really very much love this.
It's a charming fairy tale.
If you're looking for a Princess Bridelike film in a new era, this is probably
it . It was very well regarded criticallyand financially was a solid hit.
And then he followed that up with thecomic book adaptation, Kick Ass, which
(09:15):
performed well enough to get a sequel,but probably underperformed a little bit.
However, it has a verystrong and vocal appeal.
fan base.
So as Matthew Vaughn continued to workon larger and larger budgets in higher
and higher profile of films, Guy Ritchiehad had two huge disasters in a row
and returning to his original genrehad only been modestly successful, but
(09:38):
that was all about to change somehow.
And I still don't know how,despite his Multiple failings.
He was picked as the director of a veryhigh profile film, the Sherlock Holmes
adaptation in 2009 with Robert Downey Jr.
coming off of his Iron Man success.
And this film was a phenomenal success,making over 500 million worldwide.
It was also well reviewed by critics,and I really like this adaptation.
(10:02):
I think Downey Jr.
and Jude Law have great chemistry.
I think Downey's havinga great time in the role.
And I like the steampunk visualstyling of Turn of the Century London.
I like the slow motionboxing and action sequences.
I really liked this very muchand it showed that Richie
could play in the big leagues.
He could be a gun for hire that stillbrings a unique style , to a film.
(10:27):
Hot on the heels of that film, theygot an immediate green light for
the next film and within two years,another Sherlock Holmes film was out.
And yet another huge successover 500 million worldwide.
This is the one time when both ofthese filmmakers careers are on
the upswing because in 2011 MatthewVaughn gets the opportunity to reboot
(10:47):
X Men with X Men first class, whichis very well regarded critically.
And by fans, that was a solidhit as well for a franchise that
seemed to , have lost its cool.
Matthew Vaughn's career continued onthe upswing as he had the comic book
adaptation of Kingsman, the SecretService, a huge financial success,
which also spawned the sequel, TheGolden Circle, much less successful.
(11:10):
For me, I found the firstfilm a bit grating overall.
But still great fun and it's best.
Whereas I found the GoldenCircle absolutely terrible
almost from beginning to end.
Audiences were more forgiving and didmake both of these films pretty big hits.
And as is usually the case with thesetwo filmmakers, as he continued this hot
streak, the Richie hit another cold patchfirst making probably to this day still
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my favorite of all his films his man fromuncle adaptation starring Henry Cavill
and Pre controversy army hammer alongwith Alicia Vikander and a Elizabeth the
Becky with great supporting work from HughGrant as usual This adaptation of the old
British spy show is just an absolute blastif you haven't seen it It is so much fun.
(11:56):
It's so stylish.
Perfectly captures the, the styleof that hipster era , of London.
But when it came out,it just kind of flopped.
Eventually having pretty stronglegs, a word of mouth is probably
pretty decent once it hit theaters,but on a 75 million budget.
a worldwide gross of just a littleover a hundred million dollars
was not enough to turn a profit.
(12:17):
And it's too bad because thisis really much more of what I
want to see Guy Ritchie doing.
And maybe he's figuring that out as well.
We'll get around to that soon.
But if the man from unclewas a disappointment.
Perhaps a hoped for franchise heredidn't end up happening, but there
was enough goodwill where people stillrumored that there was a chance it
might happen for even years afterwards.
Obviously, with Armie Hammer's issuesnow, it will never be the case.
(12:39):
But that didn't compare at all to theabsolute disaster of his next project.
The 2014 King Arthur filmcalled The Legend of the Sword.
This was supposed to be the firstof three to five, I forget how many
movies they were planning for this.
They spent an absolute fortuneon it, well over 150 million.
It was an disaster losing somewherebetween 100 and 150 million dollars.
(13:00):
It was one of the biggestmoney losers of the decade and
obviously never to be a franchise.
This is a pretty boring retellingof the King Arthur film.
The budget is massive and you can seeit and all you have to see, I really
highly recommend this by the way.
It's easy to stream this.
Watch the first 20 minutes or so where itflash forwards through the entire rise.
of King Arthur.
(13:20):
Literally, it's like a 20 minute tellingof a two or three movie saga recap.
A very strange choice to make the filmthis way, especially because these
special effects sequences here, yousee the war, you see the battles, you
see people , riding, huge elephants.
Must have cost an absolute fortunejust to make this 20 minutes of film.
(13:40):
They should have just made thatfilm, to be totally honest.
But there's some prettyinteresting filmmaking in that.
And then somehow, for the secondtime in his career, failing upwards,
coming off of two massive failures,Guy Ritchie is handed the Disney
Aladdin adaptation from 2019.
This film has very little ofRitchie's unique stylistics.
(14:00):
It's pretty bland, but it's notterrible, and Will Smith as the genie
gives a pretty charming performance.
But most importantly, for Ritchie'scareer, this was a massive success,
making over a billion dollars worldwide.
And that very same year, Ritchie madeThe Gentleman, a much smaller scale
crime story set in England that returnshim to his favorite milieu of these
(14:21):
criminal gangs operating in London.
But in this case, operatinga marijuana manufacturing
facility right under his nose.
These ancient family manners in England.
And of course, if you've seen theNetflix series, which we'll be
discussing in just a few more minutes.
You know that these are very related. The Gentleman, the film, which
came out right before the pandemiclockdowns, was the most successful of
(14:43):
all of these smaller scale gangsterfilms that he'd been working on
from the beginning of his career.
Richie was able to also thread in somesatire or maybe even social commentary
about this corruption of this wealthyclass of these British families.
And the film was another hugehit on a 22 million budget.
It made 115 million and soon thereafter,Netflix optioned it for its remake.
(15:08):
And of course, if Richie wason a hot streak, Matthew Vaughn
was probably in a cold streak.
The Golden Circle hadbeen a modest success.
But audiences had not been that enamoredwith it and neither were critics.
And he went back to the wellwith a prequel, The King's Man,
which also had mediocre reviewsand was a flop at movie theaters.
(15:28):
Of course, this was during the pandemic,so attendance was dampened by that.
But I don't think anybody was that excitedabout continuing this franchise, which
nonetheless has two more films on the way.
Now, at this point, Ritchiedoes something truly bizarre.
Coming off of the massive worldwidesuccess of Aladdin, and then the personal
success of The Gentleman, a reclamation ofhis old style that turned out to be much
(15:51):
more financially successful than anybodyexpected, he made a very interesting
choice to just start churning out films,just one after the other, after the other.
During the pandemic, he worked withStatham again, his favorite leading
man, in a much grimmer revengethriller called Wrath of Man.
A huge hit!
Which premiered in theaters andavailable for digital download
(16:13):
simultaneously because of the pandemic.
And nonetheless made over ahundred million dollars worldwide.
And more than that on its home streaming,although numbers are not available,
a huge financial success for him.
And then in 2023, within just weeksof each other, put out , another spy
thriller, ruse the gear also with Statham,which had a very limited release in the U
(16:33):
S got pretty bad reviews by his standards.
At this point, I believe did prettywell on digital here in the U S.
But it was a solid hit overseas.
And then just a few weeks later,his Afghanistan set, The Covenant.
Guy Ritchie's The Covenantis the full title.
First time his name is in the title.
And this film was also not a hugefinancial success bigger in the U.
(16:54):
S.
than it was overseas probablybecause of its thematic elements.
But it was also released on AmazonPrime soon after its theatrical release.
So probably a success asfar as Prime . is concerned.
And for me, this is apositive step in his career.
It got good reviews, bythe way, when it came out.
But for me, it's notwhat I want from Richie.
He provides a, honestly, very effective,well made, well paced military thriller.
(17:22):
It has some social commentary about theway we abandoned these translators back
in Afghanistan when we pulled out theUnited States, that is, and the Brits.
But I feel like this is one of those.
straight to Redbox set Afghanistanthrillers with better performances.
We have Jake Gyllenhaal giving agreat performance and Dar Salim
very memorable as his translator.
(17:43):
But for me, it just didn't have enough ofthe flair that I expect from a Guy Ritchie
film in its dialogue or in its action.
Obviously, can't really get away withthat given the more serious tone here,
but I still think it's a smart movefor Ritchie to make a film like this.
He can just Proof that he can dostraight action if he needs to it's
just not what I necessarily think heshould do and that leads us to this
(18:05):
moment where Matthew Vaughn puts outthe absolute disaster that is Argyle,
as I mentioned before, now availablefor everybody to watch on Apple TV.
I do not recommend this film.
It's not even that enoughto be entertaining.
I'll break you, I'll break down ina review shortly and simultaneously
on the upswing once again.
Richie, having the massively successful,the gentleman Netflix series, and just
(18:29):
last week, the ministry of agilitywarfare, which appears to be given its
budget and its initial box office, it'sprobably going to be pretty modest,
maybe a break even type situation.
But this film is a total blast.
So it's really what I likethe most enriches films.
And from a technical standpoint, maybe themost well directed film he's ever made.
(18:53):
it.
Let's start with the positive.
, the adaptation of The Gentlemanfor Netflix, which has been very
successful, by the way, so we mayvery well see a second season, has
quite a few things going for it.
First of all, Theo James, who Ihad not really seen in anything.
But recently was a fan of his in theWhite Lotus is in a very different
vein here playing this very uppercrust Younger son who's inherited his
(19:14):
father's estate only to discover thatthere is a whole marijuana growing and
distributing infrastructure operatingliterally underground And not only is
it operating here, but it's actuallyoperating in many of these old
manor houses around the countryside.
A little social commentary here howexactly are these upper crust people who
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haven't worked for multiple generations,how are they paying their bills?
What if they were all in cahootswith the criminal underground?
You could make some commentary hereabout the straight laced conservative
upper crust and how they actually benefitfrom this criminal underground or how
they're all criminals, maybe, in the end.
There's a little subtext here, butmostly this is just And I was just
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having a conversation recently about howinteresting it is that I have this big
complaint, especially on this podcastwhere I talk about television shows
that so many people have forgotten howto make TV, the old school TV that made
you just want to watch the next episode.
the characters you fall in love withover time, and just the little hook
at the end of one episode that kind ofhooks you into the next and into the
(20:15):
next and how difficult that has become.
And then I was watching two showsthat were doing it , really well
in two completely different veins.
One was Shogun, which of coursejust wrapped up, which is dense and
historical and full of impressivevistas and great performances and often
massive battle sequences, but knowshow to take this giant sprawling story
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and spread it out and keep it alive.
It's intriguing and havinglittle mysteries that get
resolved from episode to episode.
And that's how you tell alarge story over 10 episodes.
And very much in a different vein,The Gentleman, the first four episodes
specifically of this short season,felt like old school TV to me.
There was a situation that needed to beresolved in the course of the episode.
(20:57):
And Theo James character, Eddie isextremely adept at being able to pull
himself out of a sticky situationand the episode would wrap up,
but there would be an escalation.
Now there's a bag of money that got himout of situation one, but now he has to
deal with this bag of money or now he owessomebody else some money he's unraveled
an even higher level of this conspiracy.
(21:18):
And this is all happeningin this very high stakes.
Every single episode, the threateverybody's under goes up and up and up.
And yet the tone is so fun and frothyand the characters are so likable.
Except for Freddie, I really did notlike this character, I have to tell you.
But other than that,a really lovable crew.
Things get darker, they get a little moreserious in the back half of the season.
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I definitely preferred the first halfto the second half, but still definitely
recommend the series and would lookforward to more of these characters.
But in the first half, which most ofthose episodes were directed by Richie
himself, I was watching it thinkinglike, wow, this is what TV can be, right?
You just have a little missionyou go on every single week
and you laugh along the way.
And just when you think everybody'sin the clear, things get even worse.
(22:02):
This is a formula, a great formula fora potential episodic serialized series.
And it paid off.
I think this has been one of thebigger hits this year for Netflix.
And I wouldn't be surprised at allto see more seasons of this show.
Also on the positive front, hislatest theatrical release, The
Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.
Henry Cavill here is a criminalwho is recruited by an upstart
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British military group who includeIan Fleming, later to write
. During World War II, and this is actually based on historical events,
very, very loosely, these secretagents are to cross neutral waters into
Spain to sabotage a giant ship, whichis being used to stockpile all the U
(22:47):
boats in the German controlled waters.
And actually, as they're expanding,this actually did happen by the way.
are some minor facts that are true,like the exploding of the and the
stealing of the ship, but I think theentire mission took about half an hour.
The operation as in the movie iscalled Operation Postmaster, and
you can look it up historically.
(23:08):
As I mentioned, very little violencedid occur during this actual mission.
Although all these men that werepresented here in this film did
actually die during the war.
So during other missions, muchmore risky ones, I assume, they did
give their lives for their country.
But this film takes thebare bones of that mission.
Some of the historical figures names,some of the members of this council who
(23:29):
organized this criminal group, the overall
. Result of this mission.
But then it uses all of that tobasically create a Inglourious
Bastards light version.
And I don't even mean that in aderogatory way, just like good
television with the gentlemen.
I honestly could see this beinga television series where you
could have a different mission.
These guys go on every single season.
And especially with this cast, HenryCavill, once again, often misused in
(23:54):
many of his roles, especially with an U.
S.
accent.
Maybe that's what flattens himas a performer oftentimes, but
so charming with this very poshaccent in this particular film.
And once again, you sowell in the man from uncle.
So Richie really knowshow to use his appeal.
And with his main sidekick here, AlanRichardson, , who of course has
become very famous from his reacherperformance in the past couple of years.
(24:16):
Just hilarious here with this Swedishaccent just as a giant brutish Monster
literally at one point bloodily hacking atpeople with an axe and then just turning
and smiling and waving to his friendsJust every time he's on screen pretty much
Comedy gold and I honestly thought seasontwo of reacher was kind of dull Especially
his performance there did like season onenot so much season two never finished it.
(24:39):
Although maybe it gets better I havemany things to say about that season
of TV and why they even Botherednot keeping it as this incredible Hulk
analog in and out of town rescuing peopleSo that's a whole side conversation.
But whereas I don't feel they reallyused his charisma fully there, and I
felt he was limited after I've seenhim in Reacher, although I like him
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in that role, this really shows thathe could have a really long career as
not just a one man army, , but withhis comedy chops, , he could really
turn into a legitimate action star.
And if you want to continue theInglourious Bastards correlations
here, we have not only thisbearish character, We have this
illicit mission of killing Nazis.
(25:21):
We have a , Hans Lonza like antagonist,although nowhere near as charismatic as
that character and Aza Gonzalez playinga seductress would be double agent here.
So none of this is as good as.
Inglorious Bastards, but as Imentioned, in this particular case,
Inglorious Bastards Light is alot of fun, could easily turn into
(25:43):
a franchise if they wanted to.
I don't think it's going to makeenough money for that to happen,
but stranger things have happened.
And for me, as far asRichie's direction goes here.
I thought that the Covenant, forexample, was a smart move in his
regard for him because it showed thathe could do straight action without
all the additional bells and whistlesand the flashbacks and flash forwards
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and hyper stylized camera movements.
There is one psychedelic sequencewhere Jake Gien Hall's character is
drugged out and has some stylisticcamera movements and choices.
But in general, it ispretty straightforward.
But I thought it was alittle generic, honestly.
I could picture many other directorsmaking a film that way, in that
(26:27):
style, whereas, for example, Ican't imagine the first Sherlock
Holmes movie made by anyone else.
And as I mentioned earlier, thismight be one of his most well directed
films, if not his most well directed.
It's not only the scope of the action,it's not only the performances, it's not
only that balancing act of taking thematerial just serious enough, but still.
(26:47):
allowing us to laughat all the comedy here.
And there's a lot of comedy there,but it doesn't have a lot of the
pyrotechnics and the clever CGI assistedcamera movements and time jumping , and
yet provides a very signature style.
. So I think he is developinghis style in a interesting way,
(27:08):
especially in this new film.
And that leads us tothe bad, the very bad.
Matthew Vaughn's filmArgyle is so misbegotten.
I can't even understand What the thoughtprocess was to bring this thing to
light the fact that I would assumeApple was trying to court him for this
(27:28):
Theatrical release as a way to showthat they are willing to spend money to
put these big films out into theaters.
And of course they did it with Killersof the Flower Moon, which was a solid
box office success, got much AcademyAward attention and had some pretty
solid ratings for them on Apple TV plus.
And then another hugely expensivearound 200 million once again,
(27:50):
Napoleon adaptation from Ridley Scott,which once again was pretty solid
box office wise, especially overseasmissed the mark as far as award
nominations go, but probably would beconsidered a minor success for them.
And now we have a filmthat costs 200 million.
I can't imagine how this movie costs200 million, to be totally honest.
(28:10):
And I do not think this thing is going tofind any kind of new audience for Apple.
I mean, they could care less.
They're a 3 trillion company.
But the product itself is such a disasterfrom the point of view of why would they
make this film, but why would Vaughn beinterested in telling this story at all?
It's funny to think about when thesetwo men's careers diverged and Ritchie
(28:33):
was trying to make different kinds offilms, And really struggling, whereas
Vaughn had made like a better versionof a Guy Ritchie film when he made Layer
Cake, and then jumped into the comicbook film adaptation before it was all
the rage, not only with Kick Ass, butthen of course with the X Men films.
And then with the Kingsman films.
But whereas I mentioned that Richiehas really taken his style in a more
(28:57):
mature and interesting direction withhis most recent film, here we have
with Argyle, nothing new under the sun.
It is the same colored campy actionsequences usually set to disco music.
And at this point, it's noteven like we're surprised.
Like for example, with the firstKingsman , Film when the film
steers into the cartoonish.
It is just cartoonish from moment oneand I could picture a modestly charming
(29:22):
version of this story where we have BryceDallas Howard playing an author who has
a very successful series of spy novelsThese spy novels actually seem to predict
things that actually end up happening inthe geopolitical world You And there's
a question as to how could she possiblyknow all of these government secrets.
She's on a train early in the film.
(29:43):
This is all in the trailer.
Sam Rockwell's character sits nextto her and informs her that everybody
else on the train pretty much isspies who are there to kill her.
And he tries to rescue her and she doesn'tknow whether she should trust him or not.
And there's a reveal in the middle ofthe film or close to the middle of the
film, which isn't going to really surprisethat many people that she doesn't have
the simple biography that we anticipatedgiven the opening sequence of the film.
(30:06):
And this reveal, which is not a bigreveal if you don't see it coming
and , it's pretty obvious if youdo, is treated like a big deal.
And I don't even know how someone watchingthis film is going to engage with it.
Yeah.
even if you take it at face value.
In a more modest context, thiswould be relatively charming, but
the production values here, it,this feels like not the new Mr.
(30:29):
And Mrs.
Smith, which was very good by the way,but there was like a TV adaptation
a couple of years ago of Mr.
And Mrs.
Smith.
True Lies got rebootedlast year as a TV series.
This literally has the level of visualinvention and Plot mechanics of a
television show like a pilot of atelevision show and Sam Rockwell as usual
is pretty charming in the role Althougheven he doesn't quite pop but most of the
(30:53):
other performances are pretty flat prettygeneric There's too many characters.
You can't really root for anybodyespecially since Some of the main
characters aren't even aware oftheir own true backstories the
twist isn't satisfying and fora 200 million dollar movie These
special effects are absolutely awful.
This is some of the worst specialeffects work I've seen in years and
(31:14):
honestly some of the special effectsin The Kingsman films are also not
that great, but , those filmscost about half as much as this one.
So I don't know where the money went andgoing back, circling back to the whole
idea of Henry Cavill, who has a prettybig part here in this film as well, not
made to be as appealing as possible,but honestly, with this bizarre haircut.
And this is someone who knowshow to wear a suit, by the way.
(31:37):
And the fact that he wears suits inthis entire film, and he looks terrible
in all his suits, it seems to be achoice to make him look this buffoonish.
But why hire , thisactor, , in this role?
It makes no sense at all.
And of course, his sidekickis a beefy celebrity himself.
It's John Cena, who doesabsolutely nothing in this film.
And I'm not even going to get into themechanics of the plot that Honestly,
(32:00):
as soon as all the pieces are laidout, you just think this is the most
convoluted way you can get to this point.
If this was like an actual spyagency, what a wasteful and
disastrous set of decisions.
And Vaughn has made goodfilms with good scripts.
He's written some of these scripts.
He didn't write this one.
But I, it's a head scratcher,how, what was the plan here,
(32:22):
really, what was the plan?
So that one, I definitely don't recommend.
And as far as their upcomingprojects, Guy Ritchie definitely
has the advantage here as well.
Already completed, planned for releaseearly in 2025, is In the Gray, about
a team of special extractors featuringsome of his favorite previous cast
members, Aza Gonzalez again, HenryCavill again, Jake Gyllenhaal again.
(32:47):
He's also set to direct a theatricalversion of the Donovans, the Ray
Donovan spinoff movie and a Fountainof Youth film with Eiza Gonzalez,
again, plus Natalie Portman, JohnKrasinski, Donald Gleeson, and others.
He also may direct an Aladdin 2, anAladdin sequel, a re imagining of
Hercules, and a Some of these projectsare more interesting to me than others,
(33:09):
but he seems to be continuing to workin material where some of his personal
flair accentuates the material and withbudgets that as far as I can tell are
still relatively modest if Some of thesefilms cost 200 million dollars and made
a hundred million dollars They wouldall be flops basically, which is maybe
something that Vaughn has to think about.
As far as his upcoming schedule,two more Kingsman films.
(33:30):
A series that already hasdiminishing returns and are modestly
profitable at best at this point.
So maybe time for a reframingof his career as well.
So that's it for the episode.
Do check out.
My letter box profile.
I'll have a list there of.
All of these films, Kai Richie's and.
Matthew Vaughn's.
With ratings and capsule reviews.
(33:53):
And if you're curious tosee how we rank them all.
Quality wise.
Upcoming to the podcast, stay tuned.
We'll be discussing.
The sympathizer, the HBO.
Novela adaptation.
Prominently featuring.
Robert Downey Jr.
Along with a selective.
Filmography.
(34:14):
Of the producer and directorof many of the episodes Chen.
Park.
Also upcoming, I'm catching upon some of these horror movies
that have come out this year.
A bit of a disappointing year for horrorso far, but there are some interesting.
Topics that I want to discuss here.
So expect that in the near future.
And also Sona is back from vacationand I'll be discussing with her.
(34:38):
A few things we've been watching.
Continuing to discuss.
Under the bridge.
The FX true crime.
Mystery.
Series.
The veil.
The new Elizabeth Moss.
Spy thriller, which premieres this week.
And the return of the big door prize.
Plus there's a new blue episodethat just dropped this week.
(35:00):
And we're always up for discussing bluey.
Also in the near future.
Some Saifai.
Jana mashups.
Dark water on apple TV.
Out of range on Amazon prime.
And probably next week.
A catch up episode.
Around Colin.
Farrell's.
Sugar.
Siri's also on apple TV.
So stay tuned for all of that.
(35:22):
I'll talk to you soon.
Welcome everybody to another episode of Need Some Introduction.
In today's episode, I will be breakingdown the career of Guy Ritchie and the
interesting parallel he's had with hisproduction partner, Matthew Vaughn.
At the moment, Guy Ritchie not only hashad a very successful Netflix series,
The Gentleman, his own adaptation of hisfilm, but just this week, the Matthew
(00:21):
Vaughn film Argyle premiered on Apple TVAnd the recently very prolific Guy Ritchie
also has the Ministry of UngentlemanlyWarfare playing in theaters right now.
And these two filmmakers have avery interesting trajectory where
almost exclusively one is havingsuccess while the other is not.
And I find that an interesting parallel.
(00:42):
Also very interesting in seeing.
The ministry of Junto Ley warfare inthe same week that I finally caught up
with Argyle, both films that featureHenry Cavel trading Barbs , with a
Burley sidekick, and how much moresuccessful one film is versus the other.
So Richie dropped outta schoolwhen he was only 15 years.
He apparently kept getting intotrouble, had girls up in his room,
(01:04):
apparently was the main reason he waskicked out, but he was never a good
student and suffered from dyslexia.
I think his parents were workingclass, but interestingly, both of
them eventually married into royalty.
And maybe this is some of the fixationhe has in his films between the posh
meets underclass cultural collisionsthat often happen in his films.
(01:25):
Even at an early age, pretty soon, hestarted to find himself gravitating
to the film industry and justworking on any kind of menial task
on film or music video production.
And Britain was about to have a muchbigger footprint in the international
movie market, coming off of FourWeddings and a Funeral, the huge
international success of that film.
As well as the full monty another huge hitwhich had all followed up on the surprise
(01:49):
success of the crying game And of courseDanny Boyle's train spotting had come out
in 1996 so Richie had slowly worked hisway up on the productions He had worked
on had started to direct some music videosAnd had befriended Matthew Vaughn, who
was the godson of Peter Morton, who's oneof the founders of the Hard Rock Café.
And through this friendship, and throughhis movie connections, and through
(02:11):
family connections to Trudy Stiler,Sting's wife, they eventually got
lock, stock, and two smoking barrels.
produced in 1998.
A minor hit in the United States,although a huge hit when it
eventually premiered on home video.
Internationally, this was a bighit, especially back in England.
He was immediately a cult hero.
(02:31):
For me, this film is a great callingcard, and you see almost all of his
strengths on display right away.
Of course we meet JasonStatham for the first time.
He'll become a huge starin the next decades.
Vinnie Jones is here, and comes backfor the Gentleman TV series, by the way.
But more importantly is what he bringsto lock stock as far as this particular
(02:53):
style, this hyperkinetic action that issimultaneously thrilling and slapstick.
There's this nonchalant coolnessamong all his characters.
And I think a secret weaponhere always is that he's able to
simultaneously , create this sense ofdanger, real stakes for the characters.
And yet it feels so lightand frothy and funny.
(03:14):
So there definitely are stakes.
And yet we're able to laugh even inthe worst of moments, because there's
this strange balancing act, somethingthat very few filmmakers can pull off.
Not even Quentin Tarantino.
He obviously is inspired byTarantino, but even Tarantino
doesn't even really want to.
Make this kind of tone or use thiskind of type of tone in his films.
So there's nothing as Excruciatinglytense as a Tarantino film, but there's
(03:38):
also this Nonchalant playfulness thatis also lacking in Tarantino's films
to this day I think this is one of hismost beloved films among his fans and
another thing that he has made a lot ofa signature to most of his films, and
something that I think is uniquely his.
, he makes it look easy so that he doesn'tget credit for it, which is also his
ability to have a very twisty, convolutedplot, to rewind action sequences, rewind
(04:02):
time periods, inject Important relevantinformation in the plot as needed and
sure Tarantino has done this Danny Boylehas done this many other filmmakers have
done this but the fluidity of it and thesimplicity of It and honestly when you
watch a guy Richie film It's as if you areconstantly confused as to what's actually
happening the plot But in the end it willall be made clear and it truly is clear
(04:26):
It's very easy to follow in the end.
So it is in some ways maybe diet colato what Tarantino does, let's say,
but sometimes that's what you want.
And as I mentioned, there are somany knockoffs of this style that
are incomprehensible and tediousand convoluted, and his style
is simultaneously very flashy.
(04:46):
Very energetic, but very easy to followafter the surprising success of that first
film he had a big fan in the United Statesin Brad Pitt who was trying to change
the type of roles he had been taking andComing off of Fight Club and right before
his comedically deadpan performance inthe oceans films Which really rejuvenated
his career to a large extent Right inbetween there, he did snatch in 2000.
(05:10):
For me, this is still Richie's best film,as is the case with so many of his films.
I couldn't tell you what happenedin the plot now that I've seen it.
But there are so many funny sight gags.
There are so many clever executionsof these fights in the ring and out.
And such a simple camaraderie amongthe cast, which features Benicio Del
Toro, Dennis Farina, Vinnie Jones,of course, Brad Pitt, of course, in a
(05:34):
small role, but very, very memorable.
So what if it's all pointless?
And once again, What This wouldbe maybe my biggest critique of
Richie, that there's a lot of style.
There's a lot of just cooloozing off the screen.
Honestly, most of these actorsis something that I think that's
why he continues to attracthigh caliber talent emerging and
already at the top of their game.
(05:54):
He writes characters that accentuate allthe coolness of that particular actor.
And everybody is just so memorable, inthis particular film, even if it doesn't
add up to really anything at all.
Now, after 2000, this is when thingsget very rough for his career.
Two significant things happen.
One, he gets into a very famousrelationship with Madonna.
They marry, have children, andMatthew Vaughn leaves as his producer.
(06:18):
He makes his biggest budget movie.
The swept away film starring Madonna.
And it is a catastrophic disaster.
The fact that Madonna near the peak ofher career resurrection in this very
public relationship marriage with GuyRitchie, and even with the notoriety of
the production of the film could not grosseven a few million dollars worldwide.
(06:39):
It just speaks to how absolutelydisastrous this film is.
He follows that up with an even strangerdecision, a film called Revolver.
This film is almost a complete failure.
However, if you are a Guy Ritchiefan, you should track it down.
I think it's very easy to stream.
Also, if you're a Jason Stathamfan, because Statham gives a
really excellent performance here.
(06:59):
In this attempt to be taken seriously,, to add some gravitas or depth to his
work, he makes this very esotericset in the universe of his previous
gangster films, but just dark andviolent and illogical, and really just
about these philosophical questions.
The film makes almost no sense at all,but I still admire it for his ambition
(07:21):
here, although mostly failing, but thegreediness of the film looks great, has
some pretty good action sequences andgreat performances across the board.
If only it made any sense at all.
This was his most expensive,Film at the time and another huge
flop and less than a year later.
He followed up with Rock and Rollaanother Gangster film very much
(07:42):
more in line with his earlier films.
This is very much an also ran Hehas still not recaptured the magic
of those early two films But thereare some very fun performances here.
Gerard Butler, Tom Hardy stands outhere before he emerges as a huge star.
Idris Elba, Thandie Newton, Mark Strong,just some of the other cast members here.
And it's in the trajectory of hiscareer, this was him moving back
(08:04):
into a more successful realm,but very much a less successful,
less captivating version of those.
First two gangster films.
As I mentioned before, MatthewVaughn had left the fold to go
out and become a director himself.
And talk about opposite trajectories.
As Guy Ritchie's career was going downin flames and he was struggling to
even get his next film off the ground,Vaughn had directed Layer Cake with a
(08:29):
pre James Bond, Daniel Craig, which onceagain, talking about just displaying
someone at their full charisma.
This film got Craig his first film.
James Bond role, a minor hit in theU S another one of these cult films,
but a huge hit internationally.
And he followed that up in a verydifferent vein, a fantasy film,
, surprising how strong visually thisfilm is with someone who's had such
(08:53):
little experience with special effectsat that time, a film called Stardust.
And I really very much love this.
It's a charming fairy tale.
If you're looking for a Princess Bridelike film in a new era, this is probably
it . It was very well regarded criticallyand financially was a solid hit.
And then he followed that up with thecomic book adaptation, Kick Ass, which
(09:15):
performed well enough to get a sequel,but probably underperformed a little bit.
However, it has a verystrong and vocal appeal.
fan base.
So as Matthew Vaughn continued to workon larger and larger budgets in higher
and higher profile of films, Guy Ritchiehad had two huge disasters in a row
and returning to his original genrehad only been modestly successful, but
(09:38):
that was all about to change somehow.
And I still don't know how,despite his Multiple failings.
He was picked as the director of a veryhigh profile film, the Sherlock Holmes
adaptation in 2009 with Robert Downey Jr.
coming off of his Iron Man success.
And this film was a phenomenal success,making over 500 million worldwide.
It was also well reviewed by critics,and I really like this adaptation.
(10:02):
I think Downey Jr.
and Jude Law have great chemistry.
I think Downey's havinga great time in the role.
And I like the steampunk visualstyling of Turn of the Century London.
I like the slow motionboxing and action sequences.
I really liked this very muchand it showed that Richie
could play in the big leagues.
He could be a gun for hire that stillbrings a unique style , to a film.
(10:27):
Hot on the heels of that film, theygot an immediate green light for
the next film and within two years,another Sherlock Holmes film was out.
And yet another huge successover 500 million worldwide.
This is the one time when both ofthese filmmakers careers are on
the upswing because in 2011 MatthewVaughn gets the opportunity to reboot
(10:47):
X Men with X Men first class, whichis very well regarded critically.
And by fans, that was a solidhit as well for a franchise that
seemed to , have lost its cool.
Matthew Vaughn's career continued onthe upswing as he had the comic book
adaptation of Kingsman, the SecretService, a huge financial success,
which also spawned the sequel, TheGolden Circle, much less successful.
(11:10):
For me, I found the firstfilm a bit grating overall.
But still great fun and it's best.
Whereas I found the GoldenCircle absolutely terrible
almost from beginning to end.
Audiences were more forgiving and didmake both of these films pretty big hits.
And as is usually the case with thesetwo filmmakers, as he continued this hot
streak, the Richie hit another cold patchfirst making probably to this day still
(11:35):
my favorite of all his films his man fromuncle adaptation starring Henry Cavill
and Pre controversy army hammer alongwith Alicia Vikander and a Elizabeth the
Becky with great supporting work from HughGrant as usual This adaptation of the old
British spy show is just an absolute blastif you haven't seen it It is so much fun.
(11:56):
It's so stylish.
Perfectly captures the, the styleof that hipster era , of London.
But when it came out,it just kind of flopped.
Eventually having pretty stronglegs, a word of mouth is probably
pretty decent once it hit theaters,but on a 75 million budget.
a worldwide gross of just a littleover a hundred million dollars
was not enough to turn a profit.
(12:17):
And it's too bad because thisis really much more of what I
want to see Guy Ritchie doing.
And maybe he's figuring that out as well.
We'll get around to that soon.
But if the man from unclewas a disappointment.
Perhaps a hoped for franchise heredidn't end up happening, but there
was enough goodwill where people stillrumored that there was a chance it
might happen for even years afterwards.
Obviously, with Armie Hammer's issuesnow, it will never be the case.
(12:39):
But that didn't compare at all to theabsolute disaster of his next project.
The 2014 King Arthur filmcalled The Legend of the Sword.
This was supposed to be the firstof three to five, I forget how many
movies they were planning for this.
They spent an absolute fortuneon it, well over 150 million.
It was an disaster losing somewherebetween 100 and 150 million dollars.
(13:00):
It was one of the biggestmoney losers of the decade and
obviously never to be a franchise.
This is a pretty boring retellingof the King Arthur film.
The budget is massive and you can seeit and all you have to see, I really
highly recommend this by the way.
It's easy to stream this.
Watch the first 20 minutes or so where itflash forwards through the entire rise.
of King Arthur.
(13:20):
Literally, it's like a 20 minute tellingof a two or three movie saga recap.
A very strange choice to make the filmthis way, especially because these
special effects sequences here, yousee the war, you see the battles, you
see people , riding, huge elephants.
Must have cost an absolute fortunejust to make this 20 minutes of film.
(13:40):
They should have just made thatfilm, to be totally honest.
But there's some prettyinteresting filmmaking in that.
And then somehow, for the secondtime in his career, failing upwards,
coming off of two massive failures,Guy Ritchie is handed the Disney
Aladdin adaptation from 2019.
This film has very little ofRitchie's unique stylistics.
(14:00):
It's pretty bland, but it's notterrible, and Will Smith as the genie
gives a pretty charming performance.
But most importantly, for Ritchie'scareer, this was a massive success,
making over a billion dollars worldwide.
And that very same year, Ritchie madeThe Gentleman, a much smaller scale
crime story set in England that returnshim to his favorite milieu of these
(14:21):
criminal gangs operating in London.
But in this case, operatinga marijuana manufacturing
facility right under his nose.
These ancient family manners in England.
And of course, if you've seen theNetflix series, which we'll be
discussing in just a few more minutes.
You know that these are very related. The Gentleman, the film, which
came out right before the pandemiclockdowns, was the most successful of
(14:43):
all of these smaller scale gangsterfilms that he'd been working on
from the beginning of his career.
Richie was able to also thread in somesatire or maybe even social commentary
about this corruption of this wealthyclass of these British families.
And the film was another hugehit on a 22 million budget.
It made 115 million and soon thereafter,Netflix optioned it for its remake.
(15:08):
And of course, if Richie wason a hot streak, Matthew Vaughn
was probably in a cold streak.
The Golden Circle hadbeen a modest success.
But audiences had not been that enamoredwith it and neither were critics.
And he went back to the wellwith a prequel, The King's Man,
which also had mediocre reviewsand was a flop at movie theaters.
(15:28):
Of course, this was during the pandemic,so attendance was dampened by that.
But I don't think anybody was that excitedabout continuing this franchise, which
nonetheless has two more films on the way.
Now, at this point, Ritchiedoes something truly bizarre.
Coming off of the massive worldwidesuccess of Aladdin, and then the personal
success of The Gentleman, a reclamation ofhis old style that turned out to be much
(15:51):
more financially successful than anybodyexpected, he made a very interesting
choice to just start churning out films,just one after the other, after the other.
During the pandemic, he worked withStatham again, his favorite leading
man, in a much grimmer revengethriller called Wrath of Man.
A huge hit!
Which premiered in theaters andavailable for digital download
(16:13):
simultaneously because of the pandemic.
And nonetheless made over ahundred million dollars worldwide.
And more than that on its home streaming,although numbers are not available,
a huge financial success for him.
And then in 2023, within just weeksof each other, put out , another spy
thriller, ruse the gear also with Statham,which had a very limited release in the U
(16:33):
S got pretty bad reviews by his standards.
At this point, I believe did prettywell on digital here in the U S.
But it was a solid hit overseas.
And then just a few weeks later,his Afghanistan set, The Covenant.
Guy Ritchie's The Covenantis the full title.
First time his name is in the title.
And this film was also not a hugefinancial success bigger in the U.
(16:54):
S.
than it was overseas probablybecause of its thematic elements.
But it was also released on AmazonPrime soon after its theatrical release.
So probably a success asfar as Prime . is concerned.
And for me, this is apositive step in his career.
It got good reviews, bythe way, when it came out.
But for me, it's notwhat I want from Richie.
He provides a, honestly, very effective,well made, well paced military thriller.
(17:22):
It has some social commentary about theway we abandoned these translators back
in Afghanistan when we pulled out theUnited States, that is, and the Brits.
But I feel like this is one of those.
straight to Redbox set Afghanistanthrillers with better performances.
We have Jake Gyllenhaal giving agreat performance and Dar Salim
very memorable as his translator.
(17:43):
But for me, it just didn't have enough ofthe flair that I expect from a Guy Ritchie
film in its dialogue or in its action.
Obviously, can't really get away withthat given the more serious tone here,
but I still think it's a smart movefor Ritchie to make a film like this.
He can just Proof that he can dostraight action if he needs to it's
just not what I necessarily think heshould do and that leads us to this
(18:05):
moment where Matthew Vaughn puts outthe absolute disaster that is Argyle,
as I mentioned before, now availablefor everybody to watch on Apple TV.
I do not recommend this film.
It's not even that enoughto be entertaining.
I'll break you, I'll break down ina review shortly and simultaneously
on the upswing once again.
Richie, having the massively successful,the gentleman Netflix series, and just
(18:29):
last week, the ministry of agilitywarfare, which appears to be given its
budget and its initial box office, it'sprobably going to be pretty modest,
maybe a break even type situation.
But this film is a total blast.
So it's really what I likethe most enriches films.
And from a technical standpoint, maybe themost well directed film he's ever made.
(18:53):
it.
Let's start with the positive.
, the adaptation of The Gentlemanfor Netflix, which has been very
successful, by the way, so we mayvery well see a second season, has
quite a few things going for it.
First of all, Theo James, who Ihad not really seen in anything.
But recently was a fan of his in theWhite Lotus is in a very different
vein here playing this very uppercrust Younger son who's inherited his
(19:14):
father's estate only to discover thatthere is a whole marijuana growing and
distributing infrastructure operatingliterally underground And not only is
it operating here, but it's actuallyoperating in many of these old
manor houses around the countryside.
A little social commentary here howexactly are these upper crust people who
(19:35):
haven't worked for multiple generations,how are they paying their bills?
What if they were all in cahootswith the criminal underground?
You could make some commentary hereabout the straight laced conservative
upper crust and how they actually benefitfrom this criminal underground or how
they're all criminals, maybe, in the end.
There's a little subtext here, butmostly this is just And I was just
(19:55):
having a conversation recently about howinteresting it is that I have this big
complaint, especially on this podcastwhere I talk about television shows
that so many people have forgotten howto make TV, the old school TV that made
you just want to watch the next episode.
the characters you fall in love withover time, and just the little hook
at the end of one episode that kind ofhooks you into the next and into the
(20:15):
next and how difficult that has become.
And then I was watching two showsthat were doing it , really well
in two completely different veins.
One was Shogun, which of coursejust wrapped up, which is dense and
historical and full of impressivevistas and great performances and often
massive battle sequences, but knowshow to take this giant sprawling story
(20:35):
and spread it out and keep it alive.
It's intriguing and havinglittle mysteries that get
resolved from episode to episode.
And that's how you tell alarge story over 10 episodes.
And very much in a different vein,The Gentleman, the first four episodes
specifically of this short season,felt like old school TV to me.
There was a situation that needed to beresolved in the course of the episode.
(20:57):
And Theo James character, Eddie isextremely adept at being able to pull
himself out of a sticky situationand the episode would wrap up,
but there would be an escalation.
Now there's a bag of money that got himout of situation one, but now he has to
deal with this bag of money or now he owessomebody else some money he's unraveled
an even higher level of this conspiracy.
(21:18):
And this is all happeningin this very high stakes.
Every single episode, the threateverybody's under goes up and up and up.
And yet the tone is so fun and frothyand the characters are so likable.
Except for Freddie, I really did notlike this character, I have to tell you.
But other than that,a really lovable crew.
Things get darker, they get a little moreserious in the back half of the season.
(21:39):
I definitely preferred the first halfto the second half, but still definitely
recommend the series and would lookforward to more of these characters.
But in the first half, which most ofthose episodes were directed by Richie
himself, I was watching it thinkinglike, wow, this is what TV can be, right?
You just have a little missionyou go on every single week
and you laugh along the way.
And just when you think everybody'sin the clear, things get even worse.
(22:02):
This is a formula, a great formula fora potential episodic serialized series.
And it paid off.
I think this has been one of thebigger hits this year for Netflix.
And I wouldn't be surprised at allto see more seasons of this show.
Also on the positive front, hislatest theatrical release, The
Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.
Henry Cavill here is a criminalwho is recruited by an upstart
(22:25):
British military group who includeIan Fleming, later to write
. During World War II, and this is actually based on historical events,
very, very loosely, these secretagents are to cross neutral waters into
Spain to sabotage a giant ship, whichis being used to stockpile all the U
(22:47):
boats in the German controlled waters.
And actually, as they're expanding,this actually did happen by the way.
are some minor facts that are true,like the exploding of the and the
stealing of the ship, but I think theentire mission took about half an hour.
The operation as in the movie iscalled Operation Postmaster, and
you can look it up historically.
(23:08):
As I mentioned, very little violencedid occur during this actual mission.
Although all these men that werepresented here in this film did
actually die during the war.
So during other missions, muchmore risky ones, I assume, they did
give their lives for their country.
But this film takes thebare bones of that mission.
Some of the historical figures names,some of the members of this council who
(23:29):
organized this criminal group, the overall
. Result of this mission.
But then it uses all of that tobasically create a Inglourious
Bastards light version.
And I don't even mean that in aderogatory way, just like good
television with the gentlemen.
I honestly could see this beinga television series where you
could have a different mission.
These guys go on every single season.
And especially with this cast, HenryCavill, once again, often misused in
(23:54):
many of his roles, especially with an U.
S.
accent.
Maybe that's what flattens himas a performer oftentimes, but
so charming with this very poshaccent in this particular film.
And once again, you sowell in the man from uncle.
So Richie really knowshow to use his appeal.
And with his main sidekick here, AlanRichardson, , who of course has
become very famous from his reacherperformance in the past couple of years.
(24:16):
Just hilarious here with this Swedishaccent just as a giant brutish Monster
literally at one point bloodily hacking atpeople with an axe and then just turning
and smiling and waving to his friendsJust every time he's on screen pretty much
Comedy gold and I honestly thought seasontwo of reacher was kind of dull Especially
his performance there did like season onenot so much season two never finished it.
(24:39):
Although maybe it gets better I havemany things to say about that season
of TV and why they even Botherednot keeping it as this incredible Hulk
analog in and out of town rescuing peopleSo that's a whole side conversation.
But whereas I don't feel they reallyused his charisma fully there, and I
felt he was limited after I've seenhim in Reacher, although I like him
(25:01):
in that role, this really shows thathe could have a really long career as
not just a one man army, , but withhis comedy chops, , he could really
turn into a legitimate action star.
And if you want to continue theInglourious Bastards correlations
here, we have not only thisbearish character, We have this
illicit mission of killing Nazis.
(25:21):
We have a , Hans Lonza like antagonist,although nowhere near as charismatic as
that character and Aza Gonzalez playinga seductress would be double agent here.
So none of this is as good as.
Inglorious Bastards, but as Imentioned, in this particular case,
Inglorious Bastards Light is alot of fun, could easily turn into
(25:43):
a franchise if they wanted to.
I don't think it's going to makeenough money for that to happen,
but stranger things have happened.
And for me, as far asRichie's direction goes here.
I thought that the Covenant, forexample, was a smart move in his
regard for him because it showed thathe could do straight action without
all the additional bells and whistlesand the flashbacks and flash forwards
(26:06):
and hyper stylized camera movements.
There is one psychedelic sequencewhere Jake Gien Hall's character is
drugged out and has some stylisticcamera movements and choices.
But in general, it ispretty straightforward.
But I thought it was alittle generic, honestly.
I could picture many other directorsmaking a film that way, in that
(26:27):
style, whereas, for example, Ican't imagine the first Sherlock
Holmes movie made by anyone else.
And as I mentioned earlier, thismight be one of his most well directed
films, if not his most well directed.
It's not only the scope of the action,it's not only the performances, it's not
only that balancing act of taking thematerial just serious enough, but still.
(26:47):
allowing us to laughat all the comedy here.
And there's a lot of comedy there,but it doesn't have a lot of the
pyrotechnics and the clever CGI assistedcamera movements and time jumping , and
yet provides a very signature style.
. So I think he is developinghis style in a interesting way,
(27:08):
especially in this new film.
And that leads us tothe bad, the very bad.
Matthew Vaughn's filmArgyle is so misbegotten.
I can't even understand What the thoughtprocess was to bring this thing to
light the fact that I would assumeApple was trying to court him for this
(27:28):
Theatrical release as a way to showthat they are willing to spend money to
put these big films out into theaters.
And of course they did it with Killersof the Flower Moon, which was a solid
box office success, got much AcademyAward attention and had some pretty
solid ratings for them on Apple TV plus.
And then another hugely expensivearound 200 million once again,
(27:50):
Napoleon adaptation from Ridley Scott,which once again was pretty solid
box office wise, especially overseasmissed the mark as far as award
nominations go, but probably would beconsidered a minor success for them.
And now we have a filmthat costs 200 million.
I can't imagine how this movie costs200 million, to be totally honest.
(28:10):
And I do not think this thing is going tofind any kind of new audience for Apple.
I mean, they could care less.
They're a 3 trillion company.
But the product itself is such a disasterfrom the point of view of why would they
make this film, but why would Vaughn beinterested in telling this story at all?
It's funny to think about when thesetwo men's careers diverged and Ritchie
(28:33):
was trying to make different kinds offilms, And really struggling, whereas
Vaughn had made like a better versionof a Guy Ritchie film when he made Layer
Cake, and then jumped into the comicbook film adaptation before it was all
the rage, not only with Kick Ass, butthen of course with the X Men films.
And then with the Kingsman films.
But whereas I mentioned that Richiehas really taken his style in a more
(28:57):
mature and interesting direction withhis most recent film, here we have
with Argyle, nothing new under the sun.
It is the same colored campy actionsequences usually set to disco music.
And at this point, it's noteven like we're surprised.
Like for example, with the firstKingsman , Film when the film
steers into the cartoonish.
It is just cartoonish from moment oneand I could picture a modestly charming
(29:22):
version of this story where we have BryceDallas Howard playing an author who has
a very successful series of spy novelsThese spy novels actually seem to predict
things that actually end up happening inthe geopolitical world You And there's
a question as to how could she possiblyknow all of these government secrets.
She's on a train early in the film.
(29:43):
This is all in the trailer.
Sam Rockwell's character sits nextto her and informs her that everybody
else on the train pretty much isspies who are there to kill her.
And he tries to rescue her and she doesn'tknow whether she should trust him or not.
And there's a reveal in the middle ofthe film or close to the middle of the
film, which isn't going to really surprisethat many people that she doesn't have
the simple biography that we anticipatedgiven the opening sequence of the film.
(30:06):
And this reveal, which is not a bigreveal if you don't see it coming
and , it's pretty obvious if youdo, is treated like a big deal.
And I don't even know how someone watchingthis film is going to engage with it.
Yeah.
even if you take it at face value.
In a more modest context, thiswould be relatively charming, but
the production values here, it,this feels like not the new Mr.
(30:29):
And Mrs.
Smith, which was very good by the way,but there was like a TV adaptation
a couple of years ago of Mr.
And Mrs.
Smith.
True Lies got rebootedlast year as a TV series.
This literally has the level of visualinvention and Plot mechanics of a
television show like a pilot of atelevision show and Sam Rockwell as usual
is pretty charming in the role Althougheven he doesn't quite pop but most of the
(30:53):
other performances are pretty flat prettygeneric There's too many characters.
You can't really root for anybodyespecially since Some of the main
characters aren't even aware oftheir own true backstories the
twist isn't satisfying and fora 200 million dollar movie These
special effects are absolutely awful.
This is some of the worst specialeffects work I've seen in years and
(31:14):
honestly some of the special effectsin The Kingsman films are also not
that great, but , those filmscost about half as much as this one.
So I don't know where the money went andgoing back, circling back to the whole
idea of Henry Cavill, who has a prettybig part here in this film as well, not
made to be as appealing as possible,but honestly, with this bizarre haircut.
And this is someone who knowshow to wear a suit, by the way.
(31:37):
And the fact that he wears suits inthis entire film, and he looks terrible
in all his suits, it seems to be achoice to make him look this buffoonish.
But why hire , thisactor, , in this role?
It makes no sense at all.
And of course, his sidekickis a beefy celebrity himself.
It's John Cena, who doesabsolutely nothing in this film.
And I'm not even going to get into themechanics of the plot that Honestly,
(32:00):
as soon as all the pieces are laidout, you just think this is the most
convoluted way you can get to this point.
If this was like an actual spyagency, what a wasteful and
disastrous set of decisions.
And Vaughn has made goodfilms with good scripts.
He's written some of these scripts.
He didn't write this one.
But I, it's a head scratcher,how, what was the plan here,
(32:22):
really, what was the plan?
So that one, I definitely don't recommend.
And as far as their upcomingprojects, Guy Ritchie definitely
has the advantage here as well.
Already completed, planned for releaseearly in 2025, is In the Gray, about
a team of special extractors featuringsome of his favorite previous cast
members, Aza Gonzalez again, HenryCavill again, Jake Gyllenhaal again.
(32:47):
He's also set to direct a theatricalversion of the Donovans, the Ray
Donovan spinoff movie and a Fountainof Youth film with Eiza Gonzalez,
again, plus Natalie Portman, JohnKrasinski, Donald Gleeson, and others.
He also may direct an Aladdin 2, anAladdin sequel, a re imagining of
Hercules, and a Some of these projectsare more interesting to me than others,
(33:09):
but he seems to be continuing to workin material where some of his personal
flair accentuates the material and withbudgets that as far as I can tell are
still relatively modest if Some of thesefilms cost 200 million dollars and made
a hundred million dollars They wouldall be flops basically, which is maybe
something that Vaughn has to think about.
As far as his upcoming schedule,two more Kingsman films.
(33:30):
A series that already hasdiminishing returns and are modestly
profitable at best at this point.
So maybe time for a reframingof his career as well.
So that's it for the episode.
Do check out.
My letter box profile.
I'll have a list there of.
All of these films, Kai Richie's and.
Matthew Vaughn's.
With ratings and capsule reviews.
(33:53):
And if you're curious tosee how we rank them all.
Quality wise.
Upcoming to the podcast, stay tuned.
We'll be discussing.
The sympathizer, the HBO.
Novela adaptation.
Prominently featuring.
Robert Downey Jr.
Along with a selective.
Filmography.
(34:14):
Of the producer and directorof many of the episodes Chen.
Park.
Also upcoming, I'm catching upon some of these horror movies
that have come out this year.
A bit of a disappointing year for horrorso far, but there are some interesting.
Topics that I want to discuss here.
So expect that in the near future.
And also Sona is back from vacationand I'll be discussing with her.
(34:38):
A few things we've been watching.
Continuing to discuss.
Under the bridge.
The FX true crime.
Mystery.
Series.
The veil.
The new Elizabeth Moss.
Spy thriller, which premieres this week.
And the return of the big door prize.
Plus there's a new blue episodethat just dropped this week.
(35:00):
And we're always up for discussing bluey.
Also in the near future.
Some Saifai.
Jana mashups.
Dark water on apple TV.
Out of range on Amazon prime.
And probably next week.
A catch up episode.
Around Colin.
Farrell's.
Sugar.
Siri's also on apple TV.
So stay tuned for all of that.
(35:22):
I'll talk to you soon.
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