Rian Johnson is quickly becoming one of
my favorite writer/directors. He hasn't missed, yet. Every one of his
movies is a genre flick, but he is able to transcend and break
through the constraints, putting out inventive and original movies.
He is like the original-minded Tarantino. We've got a guy who loves
movies so much that he has schooled himself with watching as many as
he can (and he graduated from USC's School of Cinema and Television in
1996, but whatever.) Now he is reaching back and pulling all these
old genre tricks out, but where Tarantino makes fresh homages,
Johnson is making fresh and new.
His debut was Brick,
a spin on the noir-thriller. He set the movie in a present-day
high school, livening up the P.I.-speak dialogue we're used to
from old Humphrey Bogart characters. The heavy plot points throughout
the flick heighten the emotional appeal, but the quirky side somehow
keeps it grounded. This has been Johnson's most stylized movie at
this point, therefore the least accessible. That's not to say it's
bad, but rather just the way it is.
His
second movie was a take on the romantic-comedy. How'd he spice it up?
Make the two main characters con artist brothers. The love interest?
Their mark. And thus, we're presented with The Brothers
Bloom. Mix a great cast (Adrien
Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel Weisz) with a quirky quest for love and
you've broken out of the rom-com box, leaving a brilliant piece of
cinema.
Johnson's
latest movie is the time traveling romp Looper.
This is his sci-fi action movie. And even though I haven't seen it
yet (it comes out on September 28th,
please go see it), I am more than confident to say it will be good.
Will it match or exceed his other two movies? I don't know, maybe,
maybe not. But it is definitely going to be a bigger movie. The
inclusion of Bruce Willis pretty much guarantees that. Based on the
trailer, there will be amazing action coupled with compelling
artistic shots.
I know
it's early to even start talking about it since his latest hasnt'
even hit the theatres, but I can't help but ask: what should Rian
Johnson do next?
He has
done the thriller, comedy, and action. It'd be easy to say that he
should do a straight drama, but I object to such claims. Every one of
his movies has used a certain degree of drama to help transcend the
genres they would otherwise be held prisoners to. If Johnson were to
do a straight drama I fear the flick would feel too flat. Not that it
wouldn't be good, but he works best with quirks and style. So the
exclusion of that would run the risk of losing the ol' Johnson charm.
Besides, he's done episodes of Breaking Bad,
so any avid drama supporter can go watch those over and over (mostly
because they're damn good).
Since
this is a man who understands a wide array of movies, I would
challenge him to make a horror movie. I'd like to point out that when
I usually think of horror movies Friday the 13th
and Paranormal Activity
pop in my head. But this isn't what Johnson would do with the genre.
He would bring us something like The House of the Devil,
Rosemary's Baby, or
The Exorcist. It'd be
like when Kevin Smith made Red State.
No one thought he would pull off a horror flick, and what do you
know, he sort of pulled it off. He made the movie different and fun
and horrifying. I envision Johnson doing the same sort of thing. But
whereas Smith only made comedies leading up to his departure into
different territory, Johnson has changed his game with every new
project. His mind is in a constant state of change while he looks at
what would be new, fun, and exciting.
I say
it's about time we get a dose of Johnson humanizing the horror genre.
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