Glass Onion

Starring: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Noah Segan, Dallas Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Hugh Grant, Natasha Lyonne (cameo), Stephen Sondheim (cameo), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (cameo), Angela Landsburg (cameo), Serena Williams (cameo)
Directed by: Rian Johnson
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Drama
2022


Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) visits the private island of a tech billionaire (Edward Norton) and begins investigating a new case.

Review:

Tim: After the incredible Knives Out, I couldn't wait to see what Rian Johnson did with the sequel. Side note for why I was so excited about this film- Johnson is an incredible director. In my opinion, 4 out of the 5 movies he's directed have been great films (let's not talk about Star Wars: The Last Jedi). While Glass Onion is a really good film and a worthy sequel, it's not quite great and it clearly doesn't reach the heights of the original. That's a bit disappointing, but there's still far more to celebrate here than to grumble about. This sequel works and it furthers cements Benoit Blanc as a formidable force in the world of Whodunit mysteries.

Johnson does a lot of things well with Glass Onion. He manages to tell a twisting, surprising mystery story that doesn't just replicate the story of Knives Out. It must have been so tempting to just do that again. Johnson takes some chances here with a new story and new approach. It works. The movie kept me guessing and a few events absolutely upend us. That's great fun- to go along for the crazy ride of this mystery movie and not be quite sure what will happen once. Interestingly (VERY MINOR SPOILER), the biggest twist comes midway in the film, not at the end. I loved that because I was completely not ready for it and it immediately made me rethink the entire first half of the film. Brilliant.

Like the first movie, this one assembles a large, complex, borderline-insane group of wealthy people who are mostly disconnected from the reality of the day-to-day. It's great fun to see these larger-than-life characters interacting in this isolated location. I did think the characters and the cast weren't quite to the level of the original. This definitely hurts a bit. Outside Blanc, these characters are absolutely interesting, but not as intriguing and memorable as we've come to expect.

Daniel Craig is once again excellent as Blanc. It's funny to me that this character could be as memorable as any he's played, including James Bond. Craig is allowed to be funny here, to show a different side to his character. I laughed out loud at the midpoint twist, because I clearly didn't learn my lesson with his character the first time. Craig is so good in this role, he'll make us believe anything he wants to do. I love the fascinating character of Benoit Blanc and I hope Craig continues to play him for many, many years.

For the new cast members, Edward Norton is definitely the standout. He's a brilliant actor but a bit of an arrogant, unlikable person. He was perfectly cast as this not-very-smart tech billionaire. His performance hits all the right notes and draws hilarious parallels with similar real-life people (despite what Johnson proclaims). I thought Norton did a tremendous job and made his character fascinating. Your eye went to him whenever he was on screen. Kate Hudson was likewise perfectly cast. She plays a fairly unlikable character, but brings just enough charm to the role that you want to forgive her. You could believe her as this somewhat talented (but not very smart) person whose lack of intellect often gets her in trouble. Again, a very believable character in our current landscape. Dave Bautista gives a strong performance, too. His character felt a bit too over-the-top for me, but his comedic timing is impeccable and he creates some funny moments. Kathryn Hahn was solid, although she didn't do much that impressed me. She felt eclipsed by the rest of the cast. Leslie Odom Jr. was a bit more of a background player, too, but he impressed in his screen time. I thought he was quite effective. I love Jessica Henwick and it was fun to see her play this character, who is quite different from the types of characters she's been playing. She ultimately was too limited- Henwick is such a talent, I wish she had a bigger role. Madelyn Cline might not be an especially talented actress, but she brings a lot of energy to the role and makes her character memorable. It was fun seeing Ethan Hawke and Hugh Grant in very small roles.

I did want to focus on Janelle Monae for a moment. Monae has been impressive in recent years, giving solid supporting performances in good movies. I was excited to see her step into this role. And, it's a substantial role that requires her to do a lot of different things and show off her range. I just never really felt her in the role. Her performance feels too forced at times. She seems out of sync with the rest of the cast. It's hard to describe, but her character never became as interesting as she needed to be. Maybe the writing had something to do with it, but I just don't think she manages to connect well enough with the audience. At times, her performance is truly impressive, but there's something about the way she approached the role that didn't connect with me.

The story itself is impressively written and definitely keeps us guessing. One complaint I had is that the movie isn't as funny as the first one. Knives Out had some laugh out loud moments. There's too few here. Yes, we get a large cast of ridiculous and buffoonish characters and there's a lot of humor throughout the movie. It rarely got truly funny, though. Mildly amusing always, but I wished for more big laughs, more great lines. For this reason, the movie is a bit less rewatchable than the original. It wouldn't be a bad movie to see a second or third time, but I feel less of a desire to do so.

I know I've focused a good deal of this on the movie's flaws and that's because you always compare a second film to the original. However, I want to stress that I had a blast watching Glass Onion and if all the rest of the Benoit Blanc movies are this good, the series will be incredible. It's a worthy sequel, wildly entertaining, humorous, and completely enjoyable. If you compare this detective series to another recent one- Kenneth Brangh's Hercule Poirot. 2017's Murder on the Orient Express was, like Knives Out, a great film. This year's Death on the Nile was good, but full of flaws. Glass Onion is the far superior sequel. So, I'm focusing on that- Johnson might not have delivered a great movie, but it's a wonderfully entertaining one. He continues his hot streak and Benoit Blanc takes a further step forward as one of the best movie detectives. I can't wait for the next one.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Knives Out, Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, Clue