Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Rating

Director

Rian Johnson

Screenplay

Rian Johnson

Length

2h 19m

Starring

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

MPAA Rating

PG-13

Original Preview

Click Here

Review

At the core of many murder mysteries are rich people. They can afford the best detectives or the best parties and there’s always plenty of venality and corruption to go around, enough to write vast reams of paper with these figures at the center. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is no different, centering around a group of rich friends who are visiting a remote island owned by the man who made them all.

Rian Johnson’s return to the creative well of Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) was expected after the huge success of Knives Out. Johnson’s appreciation for murder mysteries is obvious from the cameos and winks and nods the film gives to various popular works of fiction, most notably those of Agatha Christie. Yet for all of the imagination and inventiveness of her works, Glass Onion, like its predecessor is a pale imitation that only works for those who don’t care for the intricacies of traditional detective fiction. Knives Out was wildly popular upon release, though its biggest supporters were awed by how the mystery was woven together. Yet, fans of mystery novels were less enamored.

The same can be said of Johnson’s second feature, which wants as much to be an indictment of the wealthy as it is a compelling murder mystery. Only Johnson’s idea of twists are hampered by his attempts to take the flashback elements of his story and weave them into earlier moments. Those decisions arrest momentum and ultimately make the solution much easier to figure out. For a mystery film, figuring out the twist too far before the end dampens the fun.

While the cast is filled with excellent actors, it lacks the star wattage of the prior installment. That said, the performances seem a bit more open and relatable than previously. Craig is dependable, but uninspired as Blanc while Janelle Monáe deliver’s the film’s best performance as one of the members of the band of rich friends whose work is stolen by the leader of the clique, the owner of the estate everyone is visiting (Edward Norton). Norton infuses the Elon Musk-inspired billionaire with the kind of Idiocracy-inspired ignorant bravado with surprising relatability, even if his character is condemnable. Leslie Odom Jr. and Kathryn Hahn are the only others worth singling out for their performances as two of the co-conspirators, each gaining something from their Faustian bargain with Norton’s Miles Bron. The rest of the cast, including Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista, are perfunctory at best, never escaping the surface level stereotypical characters they are given.

A film like Glass Onion will always impress those who find the least bit of showmanship to be enticing. While there are elements of the film that stand out as compelling, the mystery at the core is not one of them. It’s a mediocre plot by a filmmaker more interested in doing something that seems audacious rather than doing something radical. It’s a journeyman film that has fun moments, but nothing that would engender greatness.

Review Written

May 23, 2023