Watching – Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man

TLDR – if you liked the first Knives Out, check out Knives Out – Wake Up Dead Man.

Overall, enjoyed it. I was happy to see all the pieces on the board addressed and used appropriately.

Currently, for minor reasons I’m going to rank it as second best of the three (though others I saw it with ranked it differently). It certainly had its fair share of cheeky comedy bits (even some lines of hilarious genre savvy insights), off set with moments of deep character development, but it didn’t have some of the Benoit flair we saw in Glass Onion. The palette was browns and beiges, not unlike the dark claustrophobia of the first Knives Out. Where was that splash of colour, the stylish suspenders? At best we had a hat. I still consider Glass Onion as the one where we got to see the Detective really establish himself as a unique character.

Also, the hair. Small petty thing, but the hair styling of Benoit felt like it belonged in some earlier prequel in a time period with a more common mop top. The grizzled stubble felt out of place on the detail focused detective, making him a little shabbier even in his suit.

The rest of the cast was solid and great to watch, even as I pondered how many MCU team ups we would continue to see as the series continues (Chris Evans in KO1, Dave Bautista & Edward Norton KO2:GO, Jeremy Renner & Glenn Close in KO3:WUDM). Both performances of priests hit their mark and I’m always happy to see Thomas Hayden Church working, an unsung character actor IMHO. It’s the chemistry between The Detective and The Scrappy Priest that really moves things.

The mystery itself was satisfactory, and even if you see the motive and spot the killer early on, it’s still a worthwhile trip to see all the pieces come together. I admit, that’s what I enjoy most about mysteries, being rewarded for paying enough attention or even being able to see how it all fit together when you did miss the importance of a clue or two, sharing that moment of revelation with the detective as everything clicks into place.

And now, the Detective is a Muppet!