HIGHLY ENTERTAINING WHODUNIT FILM

Rating: 8/10 (13 January 2020)

"My House, My Rules, My Coffee" The film starts and ends with this quote, perfectly roping in the audience on what's to come. Writer-director, Rian Johnson may have his fair share of haters because of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but even most of his naysayers may had a hard time nitpicking this film. It's that good.
Knives Out is a modern take on the old whodunit film genre, which came to prominent around 1930s. The best thing the film has got it going for it is probably its clever writing. From the settings, to the characters and dialogues, all of it stands out. Hell, even the set is good. So much so that even though this film uses the modern settings, you don't feel like it is. You feel as though the film is a period piece, even when there's continuous use of modern gadgets like the smartphone. It's probably down to the antique set objects used.
Second, its eccentric colourful characters. Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is easily the best character. Imagine the world's best detective, most probably would imagine Sherlock Holmes; he's sarcastic, annoying, insufferable know-it-all and very meticulous. This guy? Complete opposite. Looks stupid, doesn't pay attention to details, etc. The only thing they have in common is their eccentricity.
He's also the funniest in the film. Couple with other characters like Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), Ransom Drysdale (Chris Evans), and Jacob Thrombey (Jaeden Martell) and you got yourself a winner. Coupled that with funny situations and deadpan dialogues, it makes the film feels like a Wes Anderson film but with modern settings.
Probably the only downside of the film is the predictable plot. There's a few plot twist here and there, but not to the point that it might shocked you. And considering that it's the genre core elements, it's a bit disappointing in that regard. But the film's more than justified itself by going on this treasure hunt like feel that's usually are in films like Indiana Jones because of its fast-pacing, which makes it more entertaining because of the rarity of how usually these films are paced.
Overall, this is a very good modern take of whodunit movies and sets a very high bar on future films in its genre. Hopefully this is a new start to the genre becoming embedded in the popular culture again.