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I watched the new Knives Out movie, and while the mystery plot was fun enough, my enjoyment of the movie was severely hampered by politics. I saw the previous Knives Out movie so I knew what to expect, but I do feel like this just went above and beyond. Minor spoilers to follow.
My wife was disappointed that I let politics ruin a good movie for me, but really, I think that the filmmakers honestly don't want you to view this movie as just a fun murder mystery without the context of politics. The movie is all about making a heavy handed political statement.
The movie just seemed like a pulpit for Rian Johnson to talk about how much he hates Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, and various other people. I almost feel like the entire plot is really the secondary goal. The main goal of him making this was to implant and grow a brain worm in the audience that every famous rich person is connected, really part of a cabal that got what they got through no talent of their own, took advantage of individuals and the world at large, contribute nothing, and are evil, vile, worthless, and bratty pieces of shit.
Nowhere in the movie do they ever display the slightest amount of sympathy for anyone besides the detective and the poor black woman who was taken advantage of (major spoiler:or her secret twin sister ). I guess this movie really makes me feel like in order to write good compelling characters, you really have to love them, or have the capacity to love them, or maybe just respect and understand and empathize with them. Rian Johnson clearly does none of this, and his utter contempt for them just seeps through. He comes across like a high school kid writing screenplays to take pot shots at people he hates.
I don't know, I really can't believe that this movie has gotten so much praise. It really irritates me, and just seems like lazy complaining.
Other minor, non political gripe:
The movie came to a screeching halt when they decided to have the entire 3rd quarter of the movie as a flashback. I think small flashbacks are great in mystery stories, but the decision to have over a half hour told in flashback made me feel like it was dragging, and made me want it to just get back to advancing the plot.
I saw bits of it while someone else in the house was watching it on streaming, but I've read the plot synopsis. I don't think this one is really a whodunnit, at least not in the classic Agatha Christie style; we more or less know who the murderer is right from the start (so it's in the Columbo style). Really this one, even more than its predecessor, is all about the politics: we're not watching to find out who the criminal is, or even how the detective will pin the crime on him, we're watching to see the bad white (mostly) privileged rich people get a roasting.
The layers of irony involved are as many layers as an onion, since the people who watch this to cheer the political views about "eat the rich" are white well-off (relatively) college-educated liberals who don't realise that they are part of the group being castigated, it's the same as Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez showing up at the Met Gala in a designer gown with "Tax The Rich" on it - Sandy, you're showing up at the freakin' Met Gala in a "a custom Brother Vellies ivory wool jacket dress with an organza flounce", for a whole lot of people you are 'the rich' (even if you cry about how you can't make ends meet living in NYC on a measly representative's salary).
The (spoiler) destruction of the Mona Lisa is the same stupidity as the throwing soup protests or the line from back when all the antifa window smashing post Trump election was going on - 'are you saying property is more important than people?' The Musk stand-in could legitimately make the argument that congrats, Helen and Blanc, you have destroyed a possible solution to climate change. Yes, his energy source is risky, but the problem is that people need clean, cheap, energy and they need it fast. He might have the blood of one woman on his hands, but they have the blood of all the millions who will die due to flooding, storms, and drought-induced famine. Who is the bigger killer, here?
I have also thought that you could view the first "Knives Out" movie as one where the nurse really is guilty of the murder for the sake of the inheritance, manipulating the elderly rich novelist by 'befriending' him and then into committing suicide to protect her from what he thinks will be a mistaken charge of murder. She fools everyone including the detective and ends up enjoying her ill-gotten gains.
Maybe we're just dense, but my wife and I didn't know who the murderer was. We even speculated about a role for Chekov's stoner as we were watching.
Nah, they're a fairly racially representative group for the 2022 United States. The four Disruptors are a Latino bodybuilder, a black science guy, a white fashionista, and a white lady governor. If we count the tag-along people, that adds a white insta-influencer type and a cold-blooded Asian business-lady. The only bad-white-guy is the Elon Musk stand-in! If anything, I'd say the irrelevance of race to the plot is kind of striking given how heavy-handed the politics in the movie are more broadly. Ed Norton didn't screw Janelle Monae's black lady-genius for racial or gender reasons, they didn't even remotely suggest that was involved, he's just an asshole.
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