An underwhelming espionage blockbuster with a weapons-grade cast was too self-aware for its own good

Self-awareness can often be a double-edged sword for any big budget action-packed blockbuster, because leaning too far into winking at the audience can often come across as outright smugness. However, in the case of 2010’s underwhelming Knight and Day, the movie seemed to take for granted that the audience would be in on the joke.

The aftermath of the globetrotting espionage epic’s release was nothing if not fascinating, because it ended up being criticized for many of the same things people loved about the light-hearted caper. The plot jumps around with reckless abandon in almost nonsensical fashion, but that’s kind of the point when it’s a borderline parody of both the genre at large and star Tom Cruise’s reputation.

Viewers left confused by the number of unexplained plot threads and half-hearted expositional asides wondered why director James Mangold missed the mark, while on the other side of the coin, genre junkies praised Knight and Day for its gleeful willingness to send up the tropes and trappings we’ve all come to take for granted with a lightness of touch and infectious sense of fun.

The debate still rages to this day, too, with a Reddit thread remarking on how everybody seemed to miss the entire point of what Knight and Day was actually supposed to be. Accusing a frothy romp of being too highbrow is always a dangerous debate to ignite, but it’s one with plenty of merit in this instance. It’s loud, dumb, and undeniably entertaining, but arguably didn’t make it clear enough that you need to be in on the ground floor to get the most out of the experience.