MPAA Rating: PG-13/ Genre: Mystery/Stars: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Noah Segan, Jackie Hoffman, Dallas Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Hugh Grant, Stephen Sondheim, Angela Lansbury, Natasha Lyonne, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Yo-Yo Ma, Serena Williams/Runtime: 139 minutes
I think it is a fairly safe statement to make dear reader that, upon its release at the tail end of the year 2019, film helmer Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” turned out to be a truly delightful surprise. Indeed here was a novel slice of cinema complete with a stacked cast and a genuinely comedic yet also riveting puzzler full of curves and twists a’plenty that by the end of it managed to operate as proof that a movie could still be quite fun if permitted to be. Perhaps this is why, surprise surprise, the moment the credits began to roll, movie goers began to clamor for more or, to be specific, more films that had Southern detective Benoit Blanc at the core of them. As a result, we see that Netflix answered the call, and dropped no less an amount than 469 million for Johnson and Craig to come back for at least two more slices of cinema featuring Benoit Blanc. However, in part due to that pretty hefty amount of change, the question still loomed overhead: could Johnson and Craig bring the magic they conjured up in that first installment once more? After all dear reader let’s be honest: making a sequel is a difficult business since, if your first installment is genuinely good, then that creates expectations that 95% of follow-ups are simply not able to live up to. Thankfully, this slice of cinema is one of that rare 5% that is. Indeed with Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Johnson and Craig have managed to bring Blanc back for a mystery that, a few flaws aside, is an incredibly satisfying follow-up. Indeed, not only does the phenomenally cast of players (and the returning Craig of course), the brilliantly sharp and pointed script, the delightful abundance of comedy, and the various curves and bends in the narrative leave you hooked right from the word go, but (much like its predecessor) this is one slice of cinema that is sure to leave you desperately wanting to see more of its truly gifted detective and circumstances that plant him face first in intriguing mysteries that are able to test his little grey cells like nothing else truly can….
The plot is as follows: Taking us back in time about a solid million years to May of 2020 or as I call it The May That Never Happened, Glass Onion gets its puzzling and riveting yarn underway as we see a group of old chums all receive, in the midst of their day to day lives, a mysterious box. We soon learn two things rather quickly: one is that it comes from a mutual friend in the form of a quirky tech tycoon named Miles Braun and the other is that the box in question is actually a fairly intricate series of puzzles. To that end, we see the group all do what friends do when faced with such a dilemma and call each other up so they can all work together in solving each layer of the box. Upon doing so, we see that the box contains for each of them an invite to a relaxing and enjoyable weekend to Miles’ private island getaway just off the coast of Greece. Yet we soon learn that Miles isn’t just providing his group of chums with an island vacation. Rather, he is also making it into a murder mystery party with himself as the victim as well which should prove to be quite the enjoyable break from day to day for this collection of longtime friends including Miles’ right hand man of sorts/ noted scientist Lionel Toussiant, politician Claire Debella who is looking at making the transition from governor to a seat in the Senate for the state of Connecticut, former model turned businesswoman Birdie Jay, Birdie’s long-suffering assistant Peg, men’s rights activist/influencer Duke, and Duke’s loving girlfriend Whiskey respectively. Yet we soon learn that among this group are two rather unexpected guests. The first is a woman the group knows as Andie and who, until recently, had been a long-time fixture in the group to say nothing of Miles’ partner in his tech business before events I shan’t spoil here reared their ugly head. The second is none other than Mr. Benoit Blanc aka the world’s finest living detective who is just as surprised to be invited as the rest of the group. Be that as it may be, we see that Blanc and perhaps Andi aside, this group may be quite eclectic, but they all do have a single thing that ties them together. That being, to assorted amounts, they all owe Miles for where they have gotten in life. Yet whilst this makes it easy for Miles to get them all together whenever he feels like, there is a catch there as well. That being that if you bring a group of people like this together and then tell them they are investigating your murder, you are also giving each of them a wonderful reason to take the theme of the party and potentially make it a reality. Suffice it to say that with the players having been revealed, and the stage being set it is now time to see if this is one game that someone is about to take a step too far…….
Now right off the bat, I guess I should point out that behind the camera the main ingredient that really works in this slice of cinema’s favor is the fact that this film’s creative team doesn’t aim to make this follow-up one that just merely operates as a carbon copy of the first installment. Sure, the character of Benoit Blanc returns, sure he finds himself once again embroiled in a murder mystery, and sure there is a group of suspects for him (and each and every one of us) to question/consider. Other than those elements however, it quickly becomes clear that Johnson and his creative team have no desire to make this a cinematic greatest hits collection. Instead, they aspire to head for higher heights and construct for us a truly complicated puzzle that manages to go beyond the one seen in the first installment. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident in the change-up it engages in with the ideas that are at the core of it. Yes, the core concept of the wealthy and powerful is still prominent. However, unlike the quasi-sorta old money Thrombey family from the first one, this one deals with people who are “newly rich” so to speak and what these people might be willing to do to hang on to their money and privilege (even if their ideas on what to actually do with their wealth are fairly limited) thus making this a slice of cinema that, like the first, contains quite a bit of surprisingly thought-provoking commentary to go along with a well-designed puzzler. Think of it dear reader as the cheese and meat plate to go along with the delicious glass of cinematic champagne you are sipping here. Perhaps the best thing though that this slice of cinema has going for it is the fact that the comedy has been increased here as well. Indeed, right from the get-go where we get a delightfully old school split screen-format to provide us with instantly iconic intros for the cast of characters, this slice of cinema is able to sink its hooks into you right away while also making you laugh in equal measure at the sheer lunacy and/or idiocy on display. Thus, while there is no doubt that Knives Out was genuinely funny, this slice of cinema is able to match that one’s number of laughs in practically every single way possible. Indeed, if there are any issues that I can honestly say that I have with this slice of cinema it would be the fact that maybe (note the word maybe dear reader) goes on a wee bit too long for its own good. With that in mind though, it should be noted that even if this film could trim off a few minutes here or there, the runtime this film operates with doesn’t detract you all that much from the overall quality of the finished product. Suffice it to say that when you combine all of these elements together in the extremely skilled manner that is on display here whilst also making time to really show off the downright dysfunctional ties that this group has with one another, what you manage to get is a truly riveting, loony, and even thought-provoking slice of cinema complete with a conclusion that will leave you applauding as well as smiling from ear to ear in equal measure.
Of course, the other big thing that this slice of cinema has going for it is the immensely talented cast of players that have been assembled here to bring both their respective characters as well as this intriguing narrative so vividly to life. This starts (of course) with the returning Daniel Craig as our favorite Southern-twanged detective Benoit Blanc and to no surprise he is an absolute delight once more. Indeed, if one thing you loved about the first Knives Out was how the character of Blanc managed to be not only the most brilliant individual in any room he walked into whilst also being the looniest and even the one earning the lion’s share of our empathy then trust me when I say that seeing him get shoved face first into yet another ludicrous murder mystery involving more bickering rich people proves to be an absolute delight. Indeed, Craig has always been a true talent to watch, but he has never been as much in terms of genuine fun to behold as when he gets to cut loose, unwind, and just let rip with Blanc’s Foghorn Leghorn-style drawl as he does here. Thus, I know that Craig has said that he wants to keep making movies with this character for the rest of his life, but I really do hope that he stays true to that promise because the character of Blanc has easily become one of the defining cinematic detectives of the past 30 years easily and a lot of that can be attributed to the skill with which Craig brings him to life. Besides the work done by Craig however, there is no denying that this slice of cinema manages to bring out the best of every talent involved in front of the camera. A group that manages to include the always delightful Kathryn Hahn who brings her character to life in the wonderful way that an iconic character actress of Hahn’s caliber does so well, Dave Bautista who is brilliantly cast in the role of Duke, Janelle Monáe who does absolutely phenomenal with a quite difficult role to play in the proceedings, Kate Hudson who is genuinely funny as her more than slightly doltish character, and Edward Norton who is absolutely brilliant and on-point (not sure if that’s a good thing or not) as the equal parts smarmy, smug, and self-righteous with just the right degree of despicable Miles to name but a few respectively. Suffice it to say that when you also factor in a group of small appearances from immensely iconic and enjoyable talents that I shan’t spoil here, I think it can safely be said that not only does everyone involved bring their respective A-game to this slice of cinema, but they all look like they genuinely enjoyed making this film and getting to portray these at times moronic, frustrating, despicable, riveting, but always intriguing no matter what three-dimensional cast of characters that we are blessed to follow throughout this film’s 139 minute runtime.
All in all and at the end of the day I know that for a lot of fans of Knives Out, there was worry that a follow-up would not be able to match up to the standard that slice of cinema set. Thankfully, I can say that those worries were unfounded since this second installment in what I will now refer to as the Detective Blanc Cinematic Universe is delightedly very much that first puzzler’s equivalent and then some. Indeed Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is a film that from a behind the camera perspective sees helmer Johnson and his top-flight team continuing to deliver their own distinct stab on the whodunit courtesy of blending together the more iconic cliches and nuances from such masters of the genre as Agatha Christie with more present day analysis and very wink and nod type comedy with particular regard to economic imbalances and class struggles whilst also pointing a finger dead straight at ridiculously rich individuals who do some truly moronic things with the amount of power that wealth has brought them nearly every single day. On top of that, not only do we get a truly terrific collection of performances from a phenomenally chosen cast of players, but Daniel Craig also does no less than fanfreakingtastic work here at doing everything in his power to make the role of Benoit Blanc a more riveting and three-dimensional individual who is worthy of being placed in the fictional detective hall of fame alongside such names as Hercule Poirot, Jessica Fletcher, and even Sherlock Holmes. Suffice it to say that it should be clear as glass that this is now the start of what will hopefully prove to be a fairly lengthy franchise, but at as long as Johnson and Craig keep giving us entries made with this much skill and talent then I will continue to enjoy seeing where these particular mysteries wind up taking us. Make of that what thou will dear reader. On a scale of 1-5 I give Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery a solid 4 out of 5.
