Kevin Wozniak
Is Rian Johnson the best crime director of the last twenty years? Examining his filmography and comparing it to other directors, it’s hard to argue against him. His filmography is almost exclusively crime films; he has worked within several different crime subgenres, such as the whodunnit, the caper, and neo-noir, and criminals and detectives seem to be his favorite characters to write. Johnson has also worked on TV shows that fall into the crime genre, like directing episodes of Breaking Bad, including the episode Ozymandius, which many consider one of the greatest episodes in TV history, and developing Poker Face, about a woman who has a strange gift of knowing when people are lying and uses it to solve cases. Johnson not only frequently works within the crime genre, but he has also set the template for modern crime films.
I have been following Rian Johnson’s career since his debut film, Brick, in 2005, and he is a director who has consistently delivered excellent work. His films subvert genre expectations, whether he’s making a murder mystery or a sci-action film. You think you know where a Rian Johnson movie is going to go, but Johnson always comes up with clever ways to trick us in ways we’ve never seen before. Johnson frequently works with cinematographer Steve Yeldin to bring his visions to life, and, in most movies, you’ll get a performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt or Noah Segan, or sometimes both.
Here is my ranking of the films of Rian Johnson, from Brick to Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.
7. The Brothers Bloom (2008)
Following the success and buzz of Brick, Johnson got a sizeable budget and an all-star cast for his sophomore feature, The Brothers Bloom. The film follows con artists Bloom and Stephen (Mark Ruffalo and Adrian Brody), brothers who make a living conning unsuspecting wealthy individuals for large sums of money. Stephen wants out of the game and agrees to one last job with Bloom, conning the eccentric Penelope (Rachel Weisz).
The Brothers Bloom is a delightful movie. It’s a globe-trotting crime film that takes place during an unspecified time (they have cellphones and Lamborghinis, but it feels like the 60s at some points). It’s got cons, card tricks, guns, explosions, and, of course, double-crosses and twists. Brody, Ruffalo, and Weisz are excellent, and Rink Kikuchi is a blast as the brothers’ pyromaniac partner Bang Bang. The script becomes a little shaky towards the end, but the film concludes nicely, culminating in a light, fun watch.
6. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
I want to get this out of the first: there are no bad Knives Out movies. Rian Johnson’s murder mystery series, which started in 2019, is as entertaining as movies get. Saying Glass Onion is my least favorite of the series would be unfair because it is a spectacular movie. Johnson took our favorite detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to a Greek island with a group called The Disruptors, a mix of wealthy and powerful people who all serve Miles Bron (Edward Norton), an Elon Musk-like billionaire, where an unexpected death leads to an uncovering of something deeper amongst the Disruptors.
The characters in Glass Onion and its setting are the opposite of those in the first Knives Out film. The first film focuses on an old-money family in an aging mansion, while Glass Onion explores individuals who have fallen into new wealth and fame, and is set on a luxurious island. Glass Onion is also bigger and glossier, utilizing its budget for more lavish sets and explosive set pieces.
Even with the bigger budget and more glitz and glam, Johnson didn’t lose his bite or creativity, creating a tantalizing mystery with smart social commentary about modern fame.
5. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)
Keeping a film series fresh after three movies is tough, especially when the movies are released so close together. There are several examples of franchises that feel fatigued, or the series goes in a strange direction. But that isn’t the case with Wake Up Dead Man, the third entry in the Knives Out franchise. Johnson keeps his whodunit franchise fun and thrilling, but takes on a darker journey with a deeper theme.
Daniel Craig returns as Benoit Blanc, this time trying to solve the “Black Friday Murder”, which took place at a small church in upstate New York run by Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). Blanc works with Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), a new priest at the church, to find the murderer.
Johnson once again perfectly constructs a spellbinding murder mystery while delving deeply into the topic of modern religion. This subject could be viewed through a cynical lens, but there is nothing cynical about Johnson’s approach. He examines all sides of contemporary Catholicism, from the devout individuals who attend church every Sunday and believe in its miraculous power to those who use it for political or societal gain, to those who turn to it as a source to help them with sadness, loneliness, and anger, and those who don’t believe in it at all. He never pokes fun at religious believers and doesn’t make those who don’t believe rude or misanthropic. Johnson walks a tight rope on a touchy subject with care and ease, which elevates Wake Up Dead Man to another great murder mystery.
4. Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)
Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi is arguably the most controversial movie in Johnson’s filmography and the Star Wars franchise. Following The Force Awakens, a global phenomenon that reignited the Star Wars franchise, Johnson replaced director JJ Abrams for the second film in the new trilogy. This decision had the internet buzzing after the success of Looper. Despite receiving critical acclaim and making over a billion dollars at the worldwide box office, The Last Jedi was met with division from fans, with some loving the film and others despising it.
I lean on the side of the former when it comes to The Last Jedi. It is the best Star Wars movie since The Empire Strikes Back. It furthered the story of Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver, in one of the best performances in any Star Wars movie), gave us thrilling action sequences, and, most importantly, expanded the Star Wars universe. It showed us planets and places we’d never seen before and introduced us to new ideas about what the Force can be. It also took characters and story arcs in different directions than anyone expected, which I think especially made people online angry.
While most of Johnson’s ideas got egregiously retconned in The Rise of Skywalker (a terrible decision), Johnson showed that there was more to Star Wars than just Luke, Leia, and the Force.
3. Brick (2005)
Brick is a spectacular debut film. It’s a California neo-noir set in a high school involving a loner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who pushes his way into the underbelly of his high school after his ex-girlfriend goes missing. Feeling like a distant cousin of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, Brick is a slick, dark crime film that subverts genre tropes and expectations, taking the hallmarks of a hardboiled detective story and setting it in a contemporary high school.
Johnson’s filmmaking was also inspired by classic noir films such as The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon. From the snappy dialogue to the crafty sound design, Brick’s visual style is wholly unique and shows Johnson’s inventiveness right from the beginning. Brick premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Prize for “Originality of Vision”.
2. Looper (2012)
Following the slight disappointment of The Brothers Bloom, Johnson bounced back with Looper, a science fiction thriller that fully cemented Johnson as one of the most exciting up-and-coming directors.
Set in the year 2074, Looper is set in a world where time travel is possible. The mob in the future utilizes time travel to eliminate people by sending them back in time to get taken out. Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), working as a contract killer for the mob in the past, allows one of his targets (Bruce Willis) to go free, which he discovers is himself from the future.
Looper is one of the best time-travel movies ever made and the darkest film in Johnson’s filmography. Like all time travel movies, the rules get a little complicated, but Johnson keeps things relatively straightforward and interesting. The movie’s layers about fate, free will, and self-confrontation are coupled with thrilling action sequences and stellar visual effects. The movie also boasts stellar performances from Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt, and is arguably the last great performance by Bruce Willis. Looper is one of the best sci-fi movies of the 2010s.
1. Knives Out (2019)
Knives Out is Johnson’s best film because it is a perfect combination of Johnson’s crafty filmmaking and inventive writing. Johnson, whose career consists of reinventing and subverting genre expectations, revitalized the whodunit genre by giving us a slick and stylish murder mystery, the likes of which we hadn’t seen in years.
Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead in his study by the housekeeper the morning after his 85th birthday party. His whole family was there for the party, including Harlan’s caregiver (Ana de Armas), and they all have a secret. World-renowned detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is hired to figure out the cause of Harlan’s death.
Johnson took the classic whodunit structure and infused it with sharp humor and contemporary themes of entitlement, privilege, and morality. Every character is developed and interesting, and is performed to perfection. Craig is iconic as Blanc, and we get career-best performances from de Armas and Chris Evans, along with stellar work from Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, and Michael Shannon. Knives Out is meticulously plotted with several twists and turns you don’t see coming. Johnson is always two steps ahead of us. When we think we’ve got it all figured out, Johnson is always two steps ahead and pulls the rug out from other us.
Knives Out is endlessly rewatchable. Even knowing the plot beats and all the twists, it is a blast every time because of Johnson’s craftsmanship, the intricate and humorous writing, and the great cast. It’s the movie that solidified Johnson as one of the premier writers and directors in Hollywood and a master of the crime genre.
