Sun-soaked sequel a true cinema-going treat
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (M, 139 mins)
Directed by Rian Johnson Reviewed by ★★★★★
Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is in a funk. It’s been a while since he had ‘‘a giant case’’ and the ‘‘world’s greatest detective’’ is desperately missing ‘‘the danger, the hunt, the challenge’’. In fact, it has got so bad, he hasn’t left the bath in his apartment for a week.
Salvation though comes in the form of an invitation. Tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) is hosting a ‘‘murder mystery party’’ on his private Greek Island.
Doubling as the annual get together of his oldest friends, Bron believes Blanc’s presence will just add to the atmosphere for the tightly-scripted few days of fun that he even enlisted Gone Girl’s Gillian Flynn to write.
But as Connecticut governor Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), scientist Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr), YouTube star and men’s rights activist Duke Cody (Dave Bautista), controversial former supermodel-turned-fashiondesigner Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson) and associated assistants and partners gather together on the jetty for the boat crossing, Blanc can tell there’s tension in the air, especially given the unexpected presence of Bron’s ex-business partner Cassandra Brand (Janelle Monae).
What is equally clear though is Bron is desperate to impress. As well as the state-of-the-art facilities and little luxuries, he proudly boasts that his Glass Onion home is also powered by a cutting-edge, solid hydrogen fuel cell, and he just happens to have temporarily borrowed a certain da Vinci painting for the occasion.
‘‘I want to be mentioned in the same breath as the Mona Lisa,’’ he says when Benoit asks him about his philosophy and legacy.
However, as the guests get settled in for the main event – where they’re competing to name the killer, how they did it and their motive – for at least one person on the island, this is not a game.
Like the bold, bravura 2019 original Knives Out, this is a superbly scripted, magnificently edited whodunit, a tale filled with red herrings, weak alibis, colourful characters and terrific twists.
Writer-director Rian Johnson employs misdirection in the best sense of the word, setting up motives for virtually everyone and seemingly handing the audience a plausible explanation early, only to snatch it away more than once. It’s also funny as hell.
The opening sequence involving the arrival of a series of puzzle boxes is an immersive, creative and split-screen triumph, and the final payoff (after so many potential endings are suggested then discarded) will have you emerging grinning from ear to ear.
The true delights in this sunsoaked sequel though are in the
little details. From the celebrityendorsed food brands (Jeremy Renner’s small-batch hot sauce, Jared Leto’s hard kombucha) to the pitch-perfect – and, although perhaps not originally intentional, now surprisingly poignant –
cameos, Glass Onion rewards close attention and fully engaged viewing (make sure you’re scanning the full frame as much as you can).
Then there’s the ensemble, perhaps even stronger than those
portraying the original’s bickering and backstabbing Drysdale whānau.
Norton (Fight Club) is a fine choice as antagonist, all bluster and self-obsession, and Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy) gets to
demonstrate the comedic skills that have made him such a Marvel fan favourite, Hudson (Almost Famous) is a hoot as the speak-firstthink-later fashionista, Hahn (WandaVision) is as reliably entertaining as ever and Monae (Hidden Figures) is the film’s secret weapon.
Of course though, the star of the show (and a major reason why Netflix paid an eye-watering US$469 million for this and an upcoming third instalment) is Craig’s Blanc.
Whether relaying his hatred for Cluedo (‘‘ticking boxes, running around, searching all the rooms. It’s just a terrible, terrible game’’), or upbraiding someone for being ‘‘a minefield of malapropisms and factual errors’’, he is simply one of the most compelling and charismatic creations of modern cinema.
You could wait a month to watch this in the comfort of your home, but this is a film that deserves to be seen on the big screen surrounded by others equally absorbed in trying to solve this fiendishly clever mystery – and being thoroughly entertained along the way.
Forget those sometimes soulless special-effects-driven blockbusters, this is the cinema-going event of the year.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is screening now in select cinemas until Wednesday. It will then debut on Netflix on December 23.