Here’s every movie directed by Rian Johnson, ranked worst to best. Oddly enough, a filmmaker as accomplished as Johnson isn’t nearly as prolific as he might seem, so ranking his movies is no easy feat. In fact, seeing as all of Johnson’s movies have been mostly well-received by critics and fans alike, ranking his films is less about following a simple spectrum of “good and bad,” and more about adhering to an inevitably biased “Sophie’s Choice” approach.
Aside from some shorts and a handful of acclaimed TV episodes, Johnson’s only directed five feature films – his most recent being hit murder mystery Knives Out. He’s dabbled in film noir and sci-fi, and he’s even borrowed some stylistic influence from Wes Anderson, whether intentional or not. Now, despite the line he wrote for the force-powered Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Last Jedi about letting the past die, the Force is strong with Johnson’s past; and even though he’s certainly matured as a filmmaker, his films have been consistently well-crafted with a meticulous attention to detail from the very beginning.
From his independent roots to his current studio auteur status, Johnson has confidently let quality surpass quantity over the years. So, to celebrate Johnson’s career as he continues onward to new adventures, it’s time to rank every Rian Johnson movie, and take a look at how versatile he’s been since his feature debut in 2005.
5. The Brothers Bloom
The Brothers Bloom isn’t just a strong sophomore effort, but a strong film in general. With a meticulously twisty plot layered as densely – but also as delicately – as a 20-layer mille-feuille crêpe, The Brothers Bloom is not your run-of-the-mill caper. It centers around two brothers, Bloom and Stephen (Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo, respectively), whose entire childhood and young adult life is built on a life of con jobs and swindling. When Bloom decides he wants out, however, his brother lures him in for one last job, which tends to be the case with most caper stories.
And, like other capers, The Brothers Bloom navigates to parts unknown – not only in terms of its globetrotting story, but with its multi-layered character journeys and twists (of which there are many). The brothers plan to steal a few million dollars from a wealthy heiress (Rachel Weisz), only to let love, hate, and the inevitability of double-crossing get in the way. As usual, Johnson is at the top of his game here. The cast is more than respectable, with two Academy Award winners (Brody and Weisz), a then-rising star with Rinko Kikuchi, and the Incredible Hulk (Ruffalo); and they’re all given plenty of scenery to chew over the course of The Brothers Bloom‘s tight and complicated runtime.
4. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
To many, Star Wars is a gold standard in fiction. For its directors, Star Wars is potentially a creative death sentence. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop Rian Johnson from climbing aboard and trying his hand at a galaxy far, far away. From some points of view, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the dark horse of the franchise, with Johnson making just enough bold choices to add his unique stamp to George Lucas’ massive world. From other perspectives, it’s not the dark horse, but the black sheep, with most of the criticisms aimed at how much creative liberties Johnson was more than happy to take while running the show. So, whether you’re on Team Light Side or Dark, there’s no denying that Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the most divisive entry in the franchise. That said, regardless of some polarizing opinions floating around the internet, it is in the opinion of many that Johnson has done justice to Lucas’ beloved franchise, blemishes notwithstanding.
As a whole, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a successful sum of its inventive parts. Between Luke’s (Mark Hamill) turn from reluctant hero to reluctant mentor, subverted expectations with alliances (as well as a few plot setups from Star Wars: The Force Awakens), and Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren’s (Adam Driver) budding, but complicated, relationship, Johnson managed to nail the Star Wars tone, while also making it feel completely distinctive (not an easy feat when it comes to handling a franchise so ingrained in pop culture). And, while it may not be a perfect film, The Last Jedi is more than worthy of the Star Wars handle.
3. Looper
Before Johnson embarked on the sci-fi genre’s No Man’s Land with Star Wars: The Last Jedi, he tackled a wholly original concept with Looper. With Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who Johnson worked with on his first film) and Bruce Willis playing the same character, but from different time periods, the film is a time-jumping, mind-melting nod to films like The Terminator, Blade Runner, and 12 Monkeys. Set in a future in which time travel exists, Joe (Gordon-Levitt) plays someone called a Looper whose job is to kill people for the mob. The catch is that these victims are sent back in time from the future so as to keep the mob off the hook. However, when Joe’s older self (Willis) is sent back as a target, the two men enter a cat-and-mouse chase in which time is literally working against them.
Looper is an inventive piece of fiction based on the concept alone, but Johnson capitalizes on the premise wonderfully. With memorable sequences that take full advantage of the time travel aspect (at one point, a character’s future self loses parts of his body as his past self is tortured to death) and a frenetic, though carefully functioning pace, Looper is as original as Johnson’s other films, but it easily pushes the envelope the most when it comes to exploring the genre and time travel movie tropes. At one point in the film, Jeff Daniels’ character Abe says, “The movies that you’re dressing like are just copying other movies. Do something new.” Johnson may have written that line himself, but there’s no harm in following your own advice – and that’s exactly what he did.
2. Knives Out
Released in 2019, Knives Out is Rian Johnson’s most recent film, and also a top contender for best Rian Johnson movie to date. Thankfully, he’s already onboard for two Knives Out sequels. Following the somewhat polarized response to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Knives Out received nearly universal acclaim from critics, and appreciative audiences propelled the comedic murder mystery to an impressive $311 million box office take on a budget of $40 million. While a murder mystery in execution, Knives Out – which features an amazing all-star cast – is unique in the genre in that the audience is aware who committed the murder early on, and the story is more about whether they will get away with it.
Or at least that’s what Knives Out wants its audience to believe, as even more surprising twists and turns occur further into Johnson’s masterful movie. As great as Knives Out‘s script is though, what really propels it is the cast, led by Daniel Craig as private detective Benoit Blanc and Ana de Armas as the apparent murderer. Craig and Armas would go on to star together in 2021’s James Bond entry No Time to Die. Also featured in the cast are Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Lakeith Stanfield, and of course, the late, great Christopher Plummer as the deceased mystery writer Harlan Thrombey.
1. Brick
The debut entry in a director’s filmography often pales in comparison to later work in the rest of their career. There are usually hints of what’ll end up becoming trademarks in the future, but those trademarks usually need some time to marinate before they mature. With Rian Johnson’s film beginning, it seems he knew exactly what he was doing right out of the gate. Brick is a very dramatic, very moody neo-noir; and the catch is that it’s set within a high school. The lead hard-boiled detective (Gordon-Levitt) is a high school student, the femme fatale (Nora Zehetner) is a fellow classmate, and bullies, school officials, and various outsider cliques play roles in either helping or hurting his investigation. At the helm is a writer and director tipping his hat to the past, while confidently breaking new ground in a fun, but still potently tragic genre hybrid. It’s even inspired in parts by the anime series Cowboy Bebop, so there’s certainly a lot to chew on.
Out of Johnson’s entire filmography, Brick is definitely his least refined, but not to the detriment of the final product. On the contrary, it’s a bonus. Where it lacks the money to have the polish of something like Star Wars: The Last Jedi, it’s swimming in gritty, low-budget flair; and where it pales in comparison to the physical scope of his other films (it doesn’t travel the world, through time, or across the galaxy), it redefines a genre and manages to avoid any tongue-in-cheek slips with characters and dialogue that might have struggled landing with a less experienced and confident filmmaker than Rian Johnson at the helm.
- Knives Out (2019)Release date: Nov 27, 2019
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