lascottla

Gaudy and gauche. The first Knives Out was far superior. This one felt like it was written on a deadline and Rian Johnson just went all-in on spectacle and heavy-handed doltish “twists” to distract from the lack of good writing. I really liked Johnson’s Brick. And I thought the original Knives Out was a fun, well constructed, whodunit. But this sequel was lazy, clumsy, simple, and chock-full of lame/cheap plot devices. It seemed as if Johnson built this steaming pile with over the top cliched characters and settings in a futile attempt to disguise the fundamental failings of this movie’s witless writing. I might give this movie 2 stars if it wasn’t written and directed by someone who’s had a track record of producing much higher quality projects in this genre. Given his prior work, one would have expected something MUCH better from Johnson, so one star is all it deserves. Very disappointing. Barely got through it. Felt like a huge waste of time when I finally did.

BAD. Real bad. Basically a Troma level movie with a Zack Snyder budget. That said, one person’s trash is another’s treasure. I mean, some people loved Sharknado for christ’s sake. If you like trashy movies with bad scripts, poor directing, overacting & more meaningless gore/effects than plot... this might be the movie for you!

Trite garbage. This tries so hard to be a deep artistic character piece, but is as shallow as a ten dollar inflatable kiddie pool. Such incredibly poor writing. I actually feel bad for the writer, because this script makes it crystal clear there is no authenticity or ability behind the gloss. That the writer/director relies on stylized camera work, pretty people, and cliche devices to hide a clear lack of talent to pull off a drama that doesn’t rely on the stylistic crutches Levinson has relied upon for past success. No substance here. Only a painful revelation of a lack of talent. I feel bad for anyone involved in this catastrophe. Camera work was alright.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Joaquin Phoenix was the only good thing about this movie. Poor writing, awful directing and a god awful ending that feels like it’s written & directed by a 13 year old on his fifth Red Bull. The two clear conclusions I came to after watching this flick are that Joaquin Phoenix can give a solid performance in just about anything and that Todd Phillips is definitely NOT a good director.