Knives Out, Star Wars Sequels & Doctor Who Series 1 | Weekly Recap 12

My goodness, 3 months of this series have already passed. My Recap of the season has just come out, where I ranked my top 10 highlights, so do check that out if you want to see me solely gushing over films. Because although I have some positive reviews in this episode, there’s also going to be an unfortunate amount of negativity. Let’s get to it, shall we?

So, after finishing my Quentin Tarantino marathon, I received a request to do a Rian Johnson marathon. Johnson was always a director I admired ever since watching Looper, with The Last Jedi and Knives Out cementing him as one of my favourites at the time. Well, after watching his entire filmography and rewatching the ones I already loved, my opinion on him may have changed considerably. His first film, Brick, is just awful. It’s certainly shot competently, so while it reeks of being made by a film student who has been influenced by David Lynch a bit too much, it does showcase some promising talent from the young auteur. But the editing and writing just felt really amateurish, exploring a shallow mystery in the most boring way possible. I was given no reason to be interested in the plot, so it just sort of droned on while I stopped paying any attention to it.

And the next one doesn’t exactly get my hopes up either. Although I found The Brothers Bloom to be pretty bad, at the very least it was able to keep my attention. I was still bored, but it was capable of making me want to see it through to the end. With that said, I was really scared at the start of the film that it was all going to be told in rhyming couplets. Thankfully it isn’t, but it still doesn’t get any better. Despite the great cast, the Lemony Snicket / Wes Anderson style is pretty grating, with a dull plot, understated ‘jokes’ that only manage to induce confusion, and really corny writing that made me groan at how on the nose it was. I can certainly see the appeal in this one, as he is beginning to develop a style that I felt was perfected in Knives Out, but as it stands it just does not work in this film. 

Now for Johnson’s third film: Looper. Yes! This is the Rian Johnson I remember adoring! Aside from some seriously bad sound mixing (I had to keep turning the volume up and down) this is an excellent time travel movie, with great writing, phenomenal performances, brilliant worldbuilding, captivating cinematography and a thrilling plot from start to finish. I’m really happy I enjoyed this one just as much as last time, as I was completely hooked by the premise and invested in the emotional payoffs. I think it would be fantastic if Johnson revisited this world he created, because there’s a lot that I would love to see fleshed out and expanded on. Actually, this felt a lot like an X-men movie, with telekinesis and convoluted plots that I’m always fascinated by (ooh, maybe I should do a marathon for that…). I’ve seen a lot of people say that the rules don’t work – and while it doesn’t conform to my favourite theory (Everett’s Many Worlds Interpretation) – it feels completely fine to me. Obviously a lot of parallels to Terminator (another franchise that I should revisit), with a clash between free will and determinism that makes for fantastic drama. 

We have now reached Johnson’s last film: Knives Out. Before you say anything, I know I’m skipping his attempt at a Star Wars movie, but I’m saving that for a little later; I just want to keep things neat. Anyway, Knives Out once again proves to me that I wasn’t being silly on my first watch, as I actually keep enjoying it more and more. This film is just so endlessly rewatchable. The mystery is fantastic, but the writing goes above and beyond, playing around with the very genre to reach the perfect conclusion. This has to be my favourite Daniel Craig performance, though Ana De Armas is certainly brilliant too. In fact, the entire cast is excellent, delivering many hilarious scenes that made me enjoy the two hours immensely. Although the Twitter politics is rather grating, so if that was cut out I would have no qualms calling this a flawless work of art. With that said, this is certainly a work of art to marvel at, with a gorgeous set explored with lavish cinematography and superb editing. Johnson has definitely improved a lot since when he first started, now fully confident in his style and eager in the stories he wants to tell. 

Rian Johnson Marathon
Brick: https://boxd.it/1HiTHF ⭐
The Brothers Bloom: https://boxd.it/1HziZh ⭐⭐
Looper: https://boxd.it/1HlkML ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Knives Out: https://boxd.it/1HOoUH ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Obviously, it wouldn’t be a Rian Johnson marathon without also watching his most infamous film. But it wouldn’t make sense rewatching The Last Jedi without also rewatching the entire sequel trilogy. So I’ve at last broken my promise in Weekly Recap Episode 7 that I wouldn’t be revisiting these films in a long time; looks like I merely lasted 5 weeks. Well, beginning with what I think is the best one, The Force Awakens is still trash. I never got swept up by the hype for this film, so while I enjoyed it for what it was in the cinema, I never really gave it a second thought. I always thought it was competently made, with an entertaining – if brainless – plot. And it certainly is still that, as I can’t say I was ever bored. But each rewatch just reveals to me more and more precisely how atrociously written this film is, with really painful dialogue that had me in tears (whether from laughter or agony I can’t tell). The single most unfathomable thing about this mess is the fact that it doesn’t have a single ounce of originality. This film sets up a MacGuffin but never actually does anything with it. So it really should have been an adventure film centered around the map and the search for Luke (not tacking it on right at the end). Properly take the time to explore a Galaxy ruled by an incompetent New Republic, establishing the First Order as a tiny rebellion just barely off the ground, with the final confrontation actually involving Luke. The next film can then worry about the First Order’s rise to power, as by then we would understand what’s at stake – and possibly even make us sympathetic to their cause. Instead, the status quo is reset and we get a remake of A New Hope that just paved the way for the entire trilogy to mindlessly remake the original trilogy, utterly wasting this perfect opportunity to justify Disney ownership of Star Wars. 

And Johnson’s take on it only made it even worse! I can’t believe I had this at an A5* when I originally saw this in the cinema (seriously, I thought it was the best film I’d ever seen!). But with each rewatch I began to hate it more and more, only now (on my 5th) at last actually despising every writing choice made. The screenplay is utterly embarrassing, made all the worse by the fact that I rewatched Knives Out before this. Johnson has a real talent with fluctuating between master storytelling and utter incompetence, so I’m really confused why he’s so incapable of just consistently making high quality films, since I know he can. With all that said, it would be very disingenuous of me to not give credit where credit is due. Because everything on the technical side of things is mesmerising. The visuals are absolutely gorgeous, imbuing artistry right into the heart of the action in a manner only otherwise seen in Revenge of the Sith, with sound design that is heartstopping and heart pumping in equal measure, and a John Williams score that is always lovely to listen to. These things are probably the single reason I was so enamored by The Last Jedi on my first two watches, as they truly are overwhelming. It’s just such a waste the brilliant production design was put to such waste.

This next one I really didn’t think I’d be able to handle. Jesus, it’s a miracle Abrams actually managed to make something even worse than the other two in this trilogy. This was my third time watching The Rise of Skywalker (I saw it twice in the cinema), and while it’s ‘objectively speaking’ not the worst film I’ve ever seen, it is certainly embarassing how such an awful film was given such a ridiculously high budget. I’m seriously amazed at how bad this film is: I found it hilariously bad in the cinema, boringly bad on my second watch and now painfully bad on this one. The worst thing is this might be the most original film in the sequel trilogy, though it’s not like it means anything because what it does with that vague crumb of originality is create the dumbest plot ever put to screen. The characters were pretty flat in the other two films, but here they’re really annoying. Everything here just feels so fake, so contrived, so pointless; I really don’t understand what these people were thinking when they made this. And to be honest I don’t think they care, as they’re probably simply enjoying life with all the money they made from silly geese like me who insists on watching these abominations. Trevorrow’s version was probably going to be just as bad, though the concept did look semi-competent, so I suppose it would be nice to see that version of the film some day. But either way, each film in this trilogy drastically decreased in quality, slowly devolving into the atrocious. The entire trilogy is a mess, but this one especially is the epitome of stupid.

Star Wars - Sequel Trilogy
The Force Awakens: https://boxd.it/1HHsCt ⭐⭐
The Last Jedi: https://boxd.it/1HRp7x ⭐
The Rise of Skywalker: https://boxd.it/1I0stf ⭐

To cap things off, I decided to start my annual rewatch of Doctor Who. Only the new stuff, though I have seen a sizable amount of Classic Who too. But yes, ever since I was a kid I’ve diligently made sure to rewatch every episode every single year without fail, simply because I adore the show so much. I managed to squeeze the entirety of Series 1 into one week, and oh boy what a delight it was. Now, this is going to take up 10 episodes (as there’s 10 series), which means it will be a long journey. I’ll try to include a Series in every Weekly Recap from here on out, though I can’t make any promises that I’ll be as regular as I might like. I won’t go into mega depth for every single episode either, more so just my general thoughts on how they all come together. If you want someone who will meticulously analyse each episode, I suggest trying out Harry’s Moving Media and Harbo Wholmes on YouTube, as they make excellent Doctor Who reviews. 

Right, starting with the very first episode I saw, Rose is always such a nice episode to start these marathons with. The Doctor and Rose are introduced brilliantly, with energy and comedy in spades, allowing for the next 2 episodes to introduce the basic concept of the show (time travel to interesting locations, with a monster of the week to craft a plot). It’s a very good structure to center the show on, but what makes it great are these two characters. A man who has lost everything, and a girl who has nothing. Their relationship is a joy to watch as it grows and clashes and harmonises, making the heart of each episode resonate brilliantly.

The Slitheen two-parter is then an excellent dissection of politics, entrenched in the down to earth aesthetic of mundanity that manages to be hilarious while making us yearn with Rose to return to the stars. Well, they instead go underground next, and although the series has been fantastic so far, Dalek is mesmerizingly sublime in all it accomplishes. This is a perfect episode, introducing my second favourite villains in terrifying fashion, but still not forgetting that it’s the characters themselves who are important here, as The Doctor is exposed for his hypocrisy, instantly becoming infinitely deeper because of it. Adam joins the team for a short outing, and despite The Long Game often being lambasted as the worst of Series 1, I’ve always found it fairly entertaining. It might just be because I love Simon Pegg way too much (please make him the 14th Doctor), but the episode itself has a great concept and is all around enjoyable.

And while I said Dalek was a perfect episode, my favourite has got to be Father’s Day. The Reapers are my earliest memory of Doctor Who, ingrained into my mind with their gorgeous design. And the episode itself is astonishing, with an incredible concept that my mind adores to think about, while also being the most emotional I’ve ever felt when watching Doctor Who. Moffat then enters the picture with his first story, and although it’s certainly really great (and truly terrifying), I’ve always found it drags ever so slightly. But Captain Jack is the best, so while I wish there was more of him in Doctor Who, every second he’s on screen is heaven. He even joins the team for longer than Adam, with Boom Town being a surprisingly great piece of filler. Although this is a sequel to Aliens of London and World War Three, the moral questions that are asked here make it more of a successor to Dalek, questioning the Doctor’s sense of righteousness and the difficult decisions he performs that we so often take for granted.

This leads nicely on to the finale, with a deadly reimagining of early 2000s game shows that I have literally no memory of. But it doesn’t matter, because the creativity and insane premise makes it wildly engaging. Rose is ‘killed’, the shock of it excellently directed, overshadowed only by the grand reveal of the Daleks, which always makes me giddy with excitement. This episode is a fantastic mystery with a fantastic pay-off, leading to a thrilling beginning for the next episode and a tragic end for the series. Rose is sent back in a scene that is almost as emotional as Father’s Day, and the Doctor is shown to ultimately be a coward. All seems lost until Rose absorbs the Time Vortex and becomes a god, so while the conflict is resolved with a deus ex machina, the consequences are poignant enough to justify it. The final minutes are brilliantly performed by Eccleston – whose short lived but full-of-life incarnation of the character probably being my second favourite Doctor – leading to a hilarious first few words for David Tennant. 

Series 1 is all around just a fantastic piece of television. While not every episode is a masterpiece, no episode is bad either. Every single adventure is fun and lighthearted, but the core of them always manages to hold a lot of weight. That might sound like a contradiction, but in all seriousness the tone is perfectly balanced. Eccleston is “fantastic”; Rose is “fantastic”; Captain Jack is “absolutely fantastic”; Mickey is also “fantastic”, but he doesn’t become “absolutely fantastic” until Series 2. Each episode is “fantastic”, and the way they culminate into a cohesive first season has never been replicated to the same degree in the entirety of the show. I’ll have to see how my thoughts on the other seasons changes, because as it stands Series 1 is as perfect of a beginning as one can get.

Doctor Who - Series 1 
Rose ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The End of the World ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Unquiet Dead ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Aliens of London / World War Three ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Dalek ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Long Game ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Father's Day ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Boom Town ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐