by Christopher James
Sometimes, bigger is actually better.
Over Thanksgiving weekend in 2019, Knives Out became a sleeper hit, delivering a perfectly fun and witty whodunnit perfect for all generations. The Netflix sequel, Glass Onion, ups the ante in every way possible. The set is bigger, the cast is starrier, the cameos are plentiful. Despite the excess on screen, none of the magic of the original is lost. In fact, Glass Onion improves on the original, taking a character we know and love and thrusting him into a funnier and more zany mystery. The heart is still there so sign me up for plenty more chapters of Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) solving elaborate mysteries.
For those concerned, never fear. No major spoilers are ahead. The latest Benoit Blanc tale, which just opened in cinemas, deserves to be seen with as fresh of eyes as possible...
Benoit Blanc gets quite the trip to Greece in the latest Knives Out outing.Benoit Blanc trades in a creepy Massachusetts manor for a gorgeous Greek island with brighter water and more beautiful vistas than both Mamma Mia films. He's not staying in Donna Sheridan’s fixer upper hotel, either. He’s been mysteriously invited to a reunion of old friends organized by tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton, fantastically pompous). Bron's grand new palace on a private island is inspired by his old gang’s favorite bar, "The Glass Onion" which they would frequent back when none of them were famous. As with most reunions, there’s just as much resentment between these friends as there is love.
By the first shot, Rian Johnson has already sold the audience on a belly laugh. Minutes later, a mysterious box kicks the plot off and the wild ride begins. Daniel Craig has already made Benoit Blanc a larger than life character. His Foghorn Leghorn accent spewing complicated hypotheses feels like a twisted Americanized answer to Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poiroit. In his second outing, Craig lets Blanc’s freak flag fly even more. He's still on a mission but he gets to have a lot more fun as a fish out of water on this trip, the lone person on this trip who isn't among the ultra-wealthy 1%. It’s a wise move for a character poised to launch a franchise; make sure he doesn’t take himself too seriously.
Janelle Monae is feeling her murder mystery fantasy in a scene stealing role in "Glass Onion."Just because Blanc is having a good time doesn’t mean that everyone is. Janelle Monae walks away with the movie as the mysterious Andi Brand, Miles’ co-founder who was recently cut out of his company. Monae speaks volumes with just a single look, channeling a version of one of Hitchcock’s unknowable blondes. The level of difficulty of Monae’s performance increases throughout, resulting in one of the great delights of the year. She's definitely fulfilled the screen promise of her 2016 double whammy debut (Moonlight and Hidden Figures), albeit in a different package.
Monae brings the drama, so the rest of the cast gets the comedy. Look no further than Kate Hudson, delivering the finest comic performance of her career. From moment one, we know everything we need to know about Birdie Jay, a fashion model turned entrepreneur with a few too many cancellable tweets. Hudson knows how to amp up every line reading, every gesture, without making Birdie feel too cartoonish or outlandish. The more Hudson draws from her own public persona, the funnier the result.
It’s also fun to imagine how Hudson’s Birdie was ever friends with Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), the harried firebrand politician. Hahn knows how to slap on a smile, while seething from the inside. Particularly, she’s riled up by MRA Twitch streamer, Duke Cody (Dave Bautista), a gregarious man who has taken an opportunistic zig in the current contentious political environment. There’s a lot of deftness to Bautista’s performance, making Duke a certain degree of lovable, even as he totes around a gun spouting misogyny. Rounding out the friend group is Miles’ right-hand scientist, Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr.), whose smarts and powers of observation make him a fun and dangerous foil.
Each new cast member in "Glass Onion" gets plenty of room to shine, particularly Kate Hudson.The twists and turns of the plot are best left for the audience to discover. Even at two hours and nineteen minutes, the film never drags. It consistently re-pilots itself, thrusting the mystery into new and unexpected territory. Luckily, it never takes the audience for granted. We are always along for the ride, rather than getting whiplash from the jenga of motives and betrayals.
Despite being a multi-layered, ultra-topical, comic-mystery, Glass Onion refrains from pretension. It bites off a lot, but manages to spoon feed it to the audience in ways that are digestible, entertaining and surprising. Rather than talk down to the audience or bend over backwards to portend intelligence, Glass Onion is a simple delight with fancy packaging. After all, the definition of a Glass Onion is something that has many layers, but ultimately is completely transparent. A
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is playing in theaters now for one week only. It hits Netflix Friday, December 23rd.