Once again, written and directed by Knives Out’s Rian Johnson, he’s smart enough not to pull the same rabbit from the hat with Glass Onion, and gifts us with a new whodunit that’s more than ready to stand on it’s own. If you recall, while the elements of the locked room mystery, string of clues, and deductive reveal were worked to perfection in Knives Out, it was also about our James Bond, British actor Daniel Craig, putting on a broad Southern accent, and portraying New Orleans detective Benoit Blanc. Without a doubt, Johnson had watched Craig in Logan Lucky and wanted him to reprise his accent, but this time applying it to an intelligent, deadpan gumshoe.
In Glass Onion, the major recurring element is the presence of Benoit; but it’s enough to have gotten Netflix super excited and they laid out the budget at Johnson’s feet, to turn his world weary detective into a budding film franchise. And I, for one, a.m majorly happy, as the first film was the closest we got to Crime Fiction being successfully tranistioned into a film experience.
With Glass Onion, the setting is a luxury resort on a Greek island (I understand it was an Aman resort filling in for the location), and the one assembling our cast of characters is a tech billlionaire named Miles Bron (Edward Norton). They all have ties to Bron and it dates back when they hang put together in a local bar named the Glass Onion, a time when each were still struggling and waiting to make their respective marks in the world.
It was Andi (Janelle Monáe) who introduced Miles to the group - roles played by Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Leslie Odom, Jr., etc - but it’s Miles who became the uber-successful industry giant he is, still pulling the strings on the careers and lives of his friends. In other words, they all owe him, and can never say No - with the exception of present-day Andi.
Ever the lover of games, Miles invites the party to the island, where he’ll ask them to ‘solve’ his mystery death, and the little twist in the proceedings is that Benoit (Daniel Craig) is on board as a guest for the weekend. It’s from this premise that Rian Johnson then takes us on his merry-go-round of motive and opportunity for all the ones on the island. There’s humor suffused in the proceedings, the bonhomie and wit of Benoit, and the solid trail of clues, red herrings, and problem-solving.
If Knives Out had Ana de Armas emerging as the big surprise in both character development and acting alongside Craig; in this film, it’s Janelle Monàe who’ll blow your mind and turn out to be the most compelling character after Benoit.
I loved the story-telling, but just felt the luxury island resort made the film come off like a White Lotus whodunit. Benoit didn’t seem as at ease in the setting and I missed the old mansion set-up of the first film. Having said that, this is still, by far, one of the better films of the year, smart and watchable!