(Credit: Netflix. Also fuck them)
I got to see this in the cinema, chomping at the bit for this.
Screw Bond: this is Daniel Craig's legacy, and will forever be Rian Johnson's.
Much like the first and second, it's a slippery, tricksy, whimsically naughty and playful beast: dishing out a delectably cromulent locked room murder, a mysterious treasure, and a gallery of weasels with their own dastardly bastardry, overseen by a detective so fun to follow you can sense Daniel Craig's need for seasoning for all of the scenery, and relishing the mad twists and turns, and chewing the dialogue like he's Rob Halford. It's a fun mystery, yes, but there's also (much like the previous entries) things Johnson is saying, this time turning his ire onto a church which has lost its way: here he skewers, rather effectively, the wealthy elites who use their churches as places to shun and despise others, and fall under the thrall of charismatic hate mongers, calcifying congregations and leaving societies and communities unable to open up, change and evolve. The cast are, as is now par for the course, relishing these parts: Josh Brolin plays a bombastic, furious, vile priest and pillar of the community whose actions are rotting it from within; Josh O'Connor's excellent as the audience surrogate and sympathetic, admirable priest in the footsteps of Martha Cabrera and Andi Brand from previous adventures (his buddy cop shenanigans with Blanc are highlights) and he has a fantastic little bit in a graveyard in the rain; Glenn Close is the iron-clad bitch right-hand woman who rules this congregation like a witch; Andrew Scott is a fading sci-fi author starting to lose his mind and become paranoid from too long in the weird world around him; Thomas Haden Church is playing his character from "Easy A" if he smoked enough hash to put Cheech and Chong in a coma, and living in a shed (I love Thomas Haden Church); Jeremy Renner goes somewhat against type as a spineless local doctor wallowing in alcohol and post-divorce misery with none of the self-reflection; and Caelee Spaeny is a disabled musician with a funny line delivered to Glenn Close. As I hoped, good old Johnson collaborator Noah Segan is back, this time as "Nikolai" the bar owner whose place is central to the case (That sequence is fucking brilliant payoff, trust me). The characters are fun to follow, and whilst some are clearly red herrings there for flavour, the taste of the dish is still a sumptuous one.
Yet it's not a simple side-swipe either: the film goes to lengths to show that these are not simple charicatures but people. Fading science fiction author Lee Ross (Andrew Scott) is aware that he's starting to attract kooks, and is self-aware enough to know that he needs to change, but the allure is too powerful (and he ends on a pretty funny "Big Lebowski" joke); for example. Craven little bitch boy Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack, here NOT attempting to have sex with an older woman, thus playing against type wonderfully) is a standout as the failed Republican candidate and streamer seeking any strand or moment of fame and prestige, yet still a victim of tragedy and able to turn away if he really wants but lacking the spine and gumption to do so: because being a grifter and shithead is easier and even encouraged by this world and the vast multitudes of bastards populating it and encouraging it.. The central message of the film is that we can do better, but many choose not to.
It's excellent fun.
Highly recommend this outing of the marvellous Mr Blanc.
