MIDVALE, Utah — Ahead of its debut on the streaming service Netflix, the third installment of the “Knives Out” franchise has made appearances in theatres across the country. Directed by famous director Rian Johnson, the film stars actors such as Daniel Craig, Josh Brolin, Glenn Close, and Jeremy Renner in yet another enthralling story. Entitled “Wake Up Dead Man,” the film again centers around the detective “Benoit Blanc” once again as he attempts to unravel a mystery surrounding a popular church.
Following the original Knives Out is certainly a difficult task, as the original was perhaps one of the best movies released within the past ten years. Despite this, “Wake Up Dead Man” manages to be a worthy successor, outdoing Glass Onion (the previous movie) and arguably even matching the first movie in terms of quality.
Before mentioning the quality of the story itself, one must provide a “disclaimer” of sorts for those going in unprepared. Much like the two movies before it, there is a political message that may not resonate with some viewers. This unfortunately ends up being a fault within the film—where the original movie was subtle with its criticism, “Wake Up Dead Man” falls into the same trap that quite a lot of media today falls into—this being that the movie is not subtle at all about what the message is. This is something shared with “Glass Onion,” where the message was perhaps even less subtle, but it still makes certain scenes feel clumsy. While having a political message is almost ubiquitous within the best films, here it definitely could have been done better.
On the other hand, there is a different side of the film that people may be concerned about: this being that as the movie takes place within a heavily religious town, faith often plays a huge role in the discussions between characters. While viewers may be concerned about the film’s portrayal of religion, it does not favor one or the other. The two main characters of the film show two different perspectives on the issue, and using both of them leads to the film not seeming to favor either side too much.
Much like the previous two films, “Wake Up Dead Man” has an intricately crafted mystery that ends in a truly satisfying reveal. The movie is much better than the previous film in this regard—very few of the reveals feel “unfair,” as the movie does not tend to hide critical information from you that the main characters have obtained. This ends up making the film truly satisfying when the reveal comes around—arguably, the mystery is even better than the original in this regard.
Supplementing this is the beautiful cinematography, utilizing a vibrant color palette that leads to each and every shot being pleasing to look at. This is, of course, to be expected of the director Rian Johnson at this point (this was one of the few good things about his installment in the Star Wars franchise)—but it still proves to be an effective tool in making the film enjoyable.
With all of these elements working together, we are left with a truly incredible film. Though many may see it as slightly inferior to the first movie, it is incredibly close in terms of quality. Furthermore, to those wary of another entry after “Glass Onion,” this movie will provide a pleasant contrast, as this movie proves to be better in almost every aspect. As such, if you want to watch a compelling mystery that will leave you on the edge of your seat for nearly the entire film, “Wake Up Dead Man” will certainly satisfy you.
