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Five years on from Rian Johnson’sKnives Out, it seems harder to remember that his smash-hit mystery flick was following one of the most divisive movies of that decade and of all time.Star Wars: The Last Jediis one of those films that people are still a little uncomfortable talking about in groups, in case you start a heated debate about the rules of a made-up Jedi power. ButKnives Outcame as an idealpalette cleanser for Johnson, taking audiences back to the core components of his style and reminding them that he wasn’t just the guy who had “ruined"Star Wars.
All this time later,Knives Outremains a modern, bright spot not only in Johnson’s career but for everyone who was involved. There’s a real sense of fluidity toKnives Outnot found in modern storytelling, a propulsion that makes a big ensemble feel like pieces on a Cluedo board. Many of the elements that fans complained about inThe Last Jediare present inKnives Out, and the latter was celebrated for them.
This has more to do with theswitch in genres. The tones of the two universes are very different, making one an awkward place for comedy and the other the perfect place for it. Why didKnives Outact as a perfect response toThe Last Jedi? How hasKnives Outaged five years later? How has the series changed withGlass Onionand the upcoming third film? Here’s what you need to know.
‘Knives Out’ Is Still Great Five Years Later
Knives Out
The ease with whichKnives Outjuggles its conflicting characters has made it a treat to watch five years on. It isn’t a perfect movie, but it does allow the actors to have fun with the material and are self-aware enough to let that come out on-screen. The campy tone wouldn’t work without commitment, and Johnson plays up enough of the absurdity to make it work.Knives Outlargely thrives on its performances. Compared toThe Last Jedi, the use of theensemble is pulled off much better, and space has a lot to do with it. Not the literal space but the scope with which Johnson has to work.Knives Outis more or less contained in the home, andThe Last Jedihas the entire galaxy to play in.
Why Brick Is Still Rian Johnson’s Best Movie
While Johnson’s best work may be ahead of him as he continues to add new films and TV projects to his resume, he has never topped Brick.
Johnson’s brand of slightly camp comedy works better in these smaller spacesbecause there’s not as much room for credibility to be strained. InThe Last Jedi, the tone of it has to be stretched over different activities the characters are paired off into. Even when Johnson has gone into bigger narrative spaces, likeLooper, he has mostly kept things personal and contained. When he started pulling hishumor across planetsinThe Last Jedi, it forced the campiness that was already present in the world to be broken so Johnson could point out how ludicrous it all was.
‘Knives Out’ Didn’t Make the Mistakes of ‘The Last Jedi’
Admittedly,Knives Outhas less of a job to do in terms of establishing its universe because it doesn’t have to fit into any rules.The Last Jediwas bravely made, butthere’s a difference between subverting expectations in a good way and in an unproductive way.Knives Outtook the absurdism ofThe Last Jedi, some of which was already present before Johnson, and spent less time pointing out the zaniness of it all. Johnson tends to slip up when he lets the romantic in him out, which can be easy to do when dealing with something likeStar Wars. Johnson overdid it inThe Last Jediby going for spectacle, whereas inKnives Out, he didn’t have to rely on that so much.
Knives Out: How Martha Had God-Given Luck in Escaping Danger
The movie contains two mysteries: the murder mystery, and the mystery of the protagonist’s ultimate, and unexplainable divine protection.
Knives Outmanaged to jump over the leapsin logic because Johnson was making his own rules. If Disney didn’t want Johnson to mess with the formula, maybe they shouldn’t have hired him. As a director, he has often sought to break the rules. One of his episodes inBreaking Bad, “Fly,” is hotly debated among fans for being “boring” or “dull.” But more often than not, Johnson tries to cater to genre conventions while putting his pulpy spin on it. He loves movies, and it just turned out that pointing out the unrealistic situation in a whodunit is easier to pull off than having a character in space with a glowing sword.
Why Does ‘Knives Out’ Work Better than ‘The Last Jedi?’
If all of this presents a slightly split picture between these two films, it’s because that’s mostly the case. There are obvious differences betweenKnives OutandThe Last Jedi. It is notJohnson’s fault if his tonal stylesdo not fit in with a world as rich and rigid asStar Wars, but whatKnives Outproves even five years later is thatJohnson’s ability to juggle ensemble casts is not up for debate. It just shows that perhaps he is better at juggling these casts and the different personalities they bring in a more condensed space with fewer parts to bring together at the end.
It took Johnson back to the basics, without any franchise baggage to carry around with him. Not everyone inKnives Outgets the screen time they deserve, but it still all feels complete because of the family dynamic where not everyone is going to be a big player anyway.The Last Jeditook Johnson out of his comfort zone as a director, maintaining the heart and need for shock that he has often had. He has the skills; just knowing when to tone them down may be something to work on. Either way,Knives Outis far more fondly remembered thanThe Last Jedi,mostly because of the contained narrative but also becauseJohnson is free to play by his rules. And he can kill off whoever he wants without creating force ghosts.Knives Outis available to rent onApple TV+andPrime Video.
