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The similarly titled TV show does this same concept, but does it better. A few jokes aren't transferred, I'm not sure why because the TV show is quite raunchy and the jokes would have transferred fine.

But for the most part, the TV show is just better. Which is odd because it so often goes the other direction, doesn't it? Where the movie has some nice ideas, but the TV show isn't just the same content but longer. They create better characters, the gag is more refined, and the actors honestly do a better job than Clement and Waititi, both of whom are funny men, but not particularly good actors.

But on top of that some of the elements that are throwaway gags in this movie become integral platforms for expended treatment that makes a gag that doesn't really work into one that is excellent. My number on example is familiars, a concept that is touched on in this movie, but only briefly becomes a major pillar in the TV show where Guillermo is excellent as the combination straight-man and everyman to give the audience a better entrance to the vampiric world.

I really can't recommend enough that you skip this movie and watch the TV show. It's better. You missed nothing.

I have mixed feelings about the Knives Out mysteries. I love that someone is trying to create a new serial mystery detective along the lines of Poirot and Sherlock. And Rian Johnson's movies are always well shot and pretty.

But Rian Johnson movies always come with a littany of plot holes you could drive an ocean liner through, and this one is no different. Seriously, Rian, hire and EDITOR.

Like many fictional detectives, Benoit Blanc is all style and no substance. He makes wildly unsupported assumptions that turn out to be true because he has the advantage of plot armor. Blanc is one of those movie characters who seems smart mostly because everyone around him says he's very smart. But if you spend 5 minutes thinking about his process and actions, he's not so smart.

Knives Out is also one of those mystery shows where criticial bits of evidence are withheld until the very end of the movie to prevent the audience from being able to deduce what's happening along with Blanc so that he always seems smart to the audience.

But that doesn't mean these movies aren't entertaining. Johnson is quite good at his 'reveals' which are fun to watch. And I think the characters in this one are more compelling. The priest who is our protagonist comes off as genuine and sympathetic. Mile Kunis' sheriff seems to steal every scene she's in. Brolin's Monsignor Wicks really does have alot going for him as the victim you love to hate. Okay, sure, most of the others are pretty forgettable.

Despite not being a religious person nor a conservative, I rolled my eyes pretty hard at the very one-sided attack on religious conservatism, as Johnson's script pretends that the left doesn't have the same kinds of hucksters in it, they're just peddling different scams. But it's safe and easy to make fun of the conservatives because they're not the people in power in Hollywood. This isn't courage, it's cowardice. And I don't need it in my entertainment that I am going to as an escape from our politically polarized world.

Overall, I watched it from start to finish, I reasonably enjoyed it, and when a fourth one comes out, I'll probably watch that. But if these were being released theatrically where I was spending money for them on a per view basis, I wouldn't pay a penny for it. It's go that solid minimal competence to it.

I didn't find out until after watching that the writer wrote two of the John Wick entries. Had I known that, perhaps I'd have been less surprised by the fact that this movie repeats so many John Wick cliches and tropes that about halfway in, I was starting to wonder if a copyright lawsuit might be justified. Can you plagiarize yourself? If so, this guy did.

The first half of the movie seems to try to create a more grounded, less unbeatable hero than Wick. Perhaps more like Bruce Willis' Die Hard character. But then it just straight-up discards that halfway in and Odenkirk's character becomes functionally invincible, which was a shift in tone that I found deeply annoying. Be Die Hard OR be John Wick. Don't change your mind halfway through. Am I watching an action movie trying to be grounded...or one trying for escapism where reality isn't even remotely an objective? Pick a lane.

While the movie compares to Wick in terms of story beats with only details changed, the action doesn't even remotely compare to the John Wick franchise. Many of the stunts seem mistimed. Some 'feel' fake rather than making the landing of the blow feel believable.

This isn't to say that it's not a fine action movie. It is. It's fine. It's adequate. But is it special? No. Not even remotely.