Johnson killing it with murder-mystery caper
This is a fitting title for director Rian Johnson’s latest flick as the knives were indeed out for the 45-year-old among many Star Wars fans over his helming of The Last Jedi.
I thought he did a fantastic job with the sci-fi sequel, but there were plenty of vitriolic naysayers firing abuse his way to mean he’s probably grateful taking a turn in a very different direction.
And you can’t get much more different than an Agatha Christie-style whodunnit where Daniel Craig’s detective Benoit Blanc investigates the murder of renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) – a task made more difficult by an assembly line of suspects including members of Thrombey’s family.
I got a real kick out of watching Knives Out; it’s an old school murder- mystery tinged with quirkiness and modern touches that holds your attention across its two-hour-plus running time.
The enormous cast play off each other so well and it’s fascinating to see Plummer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon and Toni Collette share a screen with Craig and Chris Evans.
The latter pair play against type; Craig is terrifically eccentric as the lead investigator pulling everyone’s strings in an effort to weed out the killer while Evans’ bratty big head is a world away from Captain America.
Even The Last Jedi’s harshest critics would have to credit Johnson’s stunning visuals and he has fun here too tightly framing suspects, emphasising the grandeur of the central location and filling the background with artefacts and potential hiding places and murder weapons.
I’m normally not great at guessing the murderer in these type of flicks but the reveal will likely take most viewers by surprise.
You don’t have to be Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes to deduce that Knives Out is a rollicking ride reminiscent of the genre’s golden age.