Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Out of all the genres Hollywood could ever produce, it's got to be that of the 'whodunit'. Perhaps it's the element of surprise when finding out who did it, or maybe because these films are typically crammed with leading stars of the day, but, suffice it to say, they are intriguing. When I saw "Knives Out", I felt that was a very well executed and thought out film, but how could they improve on that? Well, "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" is as good or possibly better.

Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) returns to peel back the layers in a new Rian Johnson whodunit. This fresh adventure finds the intrepid detective at a lavish private estate on a Greek island, but how and why he comes to be there is only the first of many puzzles. Blanc soon meets a distinctly disparate group of friends gathering at the invitation of billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) for their yearly reunion. Among those on the guest list are Miles' former business partner Andi Brand (Janelle Monae), current Connecticut governor Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), cutting edge scientist Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr.), fashion designer and former model Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson) and her conscientious assistant Peg (Jessica Henwick) and influencer Duke Cody (Dave Bautista) and his sidekick girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cline). As in all the best murder mysteries, each character harbors their own secrets, lies and motivations. When someone turns up dead, everyone is a suspect. 

Others to round out the cast Are Noah Segan as Derol, Jackie Hoffman as Ma, Dallas Roberts as Devon Debella, Ethan Hawke as efficient man, Hugh Grant as Phillip, Stephen Sondheim as himself and Angela Lansbury as herself. 

This was directed with such amazing delineation by Rian Johnson ("Brick" '05, "The Brothers Bloom" '08, "Looper" '12, "Star Wars: Episode VIII--The Last Jedi" '17, "Knives Out" '19) plus TV, videos and shorts. As with "Knives Out", he carried the same flavor from one film to the other obviously to connect the two in order for Blanc to remain the same. This was just another place with an entirely different cast, and it excelled in spades. If you like this brand of directing, his "Knives Out 3" has been announced. This was also well crafted by writer Johnson (Same as resume above) plus TV and shorts. There's a lot to be said for penning previous installments of franchises in that it keeps a similar feel to the story even when most of the cast has been  purposely changed. Considering this, it would be extremely difficult for another writer or director to take over the reins and still establish continuity. There were two very small issues with this, however to divulge one of them would cause a spoiler alert, but the other is that Blanc played by Craig just happened to be in ear shot of potential incriminating discussions more than once. Coincidence? I think not, but then how would he figure out what happened? These issues certainly didn't taint the screenplay, because it was still spot on and I never had to look at my watch because I thought the film was too long. The more than two hour running time simply moved right along. 

This being as entertaining as it was, I can't wait to see "Knives Out 3" whenever that is released. The eclectic cast in this made it even better--something the audience can sink their teeth into. With the same writer and director, this franchise could go on for a while. The sky is definitely the limit. Grab the popcorn and enjoy this gem!

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                             Rated: PG-13                                         140mins.