2019’s Knives Out is a masterclass in the modern whodunnit genre, it’s one of my favorite movies from that year, and it serves as an exceptionally smart and funny addition to Rian Johnson’s wonderful filmography. With Glass Onion, Johnson once again excels at crafting a ravishingly good time at the movies on the surface, with thought-provoking commentary underneath it all.
SYNOPSIS: Detective Benoit Blanc travels to Greece to peel back the layers of a mystery involving a new cast of suspects.
I didn’t watch any promotional material for this movie whatsoever, so I went into this pretty much blind. After seeing the movie, I watched the trailer, and I was impressed at just how little it gives away: It’s pretty safe to say this movie has a lot of surprises. There’s almost a gratuitous amount of cameos in this movie, and while I wasn’t really sure what some of them added to the movie as a whole, it was very fun to watch.
The film looks fantastic as well, which seems to be in common applause about both this movie and the first. (Sorry, didn't know where else to put this).
What is evident beyond a reasonable doubt about this sequel is that Rian Johnson is having the time of his life making this movie. He really pulls out all the stops in his style of humor and lets the jokes fly at you at a velocity where you almost miss them completely. At first, I found this a little difficult to adapt to, but as the plot thickened I was able to get used to it.
Daniel Craig once again is so much fun to watch as Detective Benoit Blanc. His charisma is infectious, and his chemistry with the other actors is fantastic. Johnson employs a fish-out-of-water exposition technique with Blanc that not only serves as a great and deserved explanation device, but as a great contrast to the rest of the cast.
Janelle Monae and Edward Norton are definitely the two standouts for me, despite their characters being completely different. They each bring a certain informed depth to each of their characters that I really enjoyed watching develop on screen. Unfortunately, I felt as the rest of the characters were critically underutilized in every sense. This story really focuses on three people, and the side characters definitely feel out of focus.
As per Johnson’s usual style, the film is told in a nonlinear fashion, and while I think it certainly makes this film more interesting, I felt its use of flashbacks - I tried to avoid comparing this movie to the first, I really did - was not as well integrated as the first Knives Out. The second act here, while very engaging and all-around well done, felt slightly clunky. But, given certain plot points in the movie, I don’t see any other way as to how this second act might’ve been helmed, it’s just that structurally it felt a bit wobbly.
Glass Onion, if nothing else, deserves an immediate rewatch. The intricacy of the plot is well-woven and smart from beginning to end, and the characters, while thin, provide a lot of fun commentary on today’s world. I can’t wait to see what comes next for Benoit Blanc, and I’m super excited to rewatch this. Catch it in theaters before it’s too late!
3.5/5
Comments