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Glass Onion, 2022
Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is back, this time invited to an exclusive island murder mystery party hosted by obnoxious billionaire Miles (Edward Norton). Also along for the ride are friends of Miles, including a politician named Claire (Kathryn Hahn), a model/clothing line head Birdie (Kate Hudson), a scientist named Lionel (Leslie Odom Jr.), and an alpha-male-type YouTuber named Duke (Dave Bautista). Shocking everyone, the woman Miles shut out of a partnership, Andi (Janelle Monáe) also shows up. And before long, the island is home to a real murder.
I've been intrigued by the range of reactions I've seen to this film: everything from declaring it superior to the original film to saying it's not good at all. I have to report that my own reaction to it is a very tepid, eh, it's okay, I guess.
Let's start off with the positives. This is a great cast, and I could say nice things about every single one of them. Craig is clearly having a great time in the lead role, Kathryn Hahn is someone I'll watch in anything, Janelle Monae is just a fun person to watch doing whatever, Norton captures the doofus billionaire wonderfully, and there is a somewhat infectious sense that the people making this movie are having a really good time.
I'm also very partial to movies (especially mysteries, but of any genre) that can do that thing where they double back to a flashback, then let you rewatch a scene with a new understanding of the real dynamics at play. During its middle stretch, Glass Onion does this to pretty good effect.
But fundamentally I struggled with a lot of this movie because, for me, it takes the stories and the characters far too deep into farcical territory, to the point where it feels ridiculous in a not-good way. Knives Out had over the top characters, sure, but there was a much more grounded feel to it, mainly in the form of Ana de Armas's falsely accused nurse.
But here? Here we get people literally hiding behind trees to spy on people. Everything is overly poised and arranged. It's all too slick, and at the same time the mockery of everyone involved, including Blanc, robs it of any real suspense or emotional stakes. For about maybe 5 minutes, there was something that made me go "Oh, whoa!", but that feeling quickly falls by the wayside. Blanc is made a really active player in this story, as opposed to a keen observer. While this yields some good moments, overall I think that it makes for a weaker story.
There are some great little details in the set, just as in the first film. I loved a sequence of two characters eating at an outdoor restaurant, a bottle of sparkling water and a bottle of hand sanitizer in the middle of the table. There are lots of rewarding things if you look (like a perpetually slightly out of focus/uncentered self-portrait of Miles shirtless and lifting weights?).
I think I would have enjoyed this if it were a play that I was watching in a theater. But as a film it was kind of a miss. There's a distance and a contempt toward everyone involved. I love an ensemble mystery, but there have to be compelling character dynamics involved. When terrible people kill terrible people, eh. Who cares?
I hope that the future entries in this series steer back towards the vibe of Knives Out, which I really enjoyed. There's an obvious familiarity with old school mysteries, but what this film is missing that its predecessor had is a sense of affection.
Glass Onion, 2022
Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is back, this time invited to an exclusive island murder mystery party hosted by obnoxious billionaire Miles (Edward Norton). Also along for the ride are friends of Miles, including a politician named Claire (Kathryn Hahn), a model/clothing line head Birdie (Kate Hudson), a scientist named Lionel (Leslie Odom Jr.), and an alpha-male-type YouTuber named Duke (Dave Bautista). Shocking everyone, the woman Miles shut out of a partnership, Andi (Janelle Monáe) also shows up. And before long, the island is home to a real murder.
I've been intrigued by the range of reactions I've seen to this film: everything from declaring it superior to the original film to saying it's not good at all. I have to report that my own reaction to it is a very tepid, eh, it's okay, I guess.
Let's start off with the positives. This is a great cast, and I could say nice things about every single one of them. Craig is clearly having a great time in the lead role, Kathryn Hahn is someone I'll watch in anything, Janelle Monae is just a fun person to watch doing whatever, Norton captures the doofus billionaire wonderfully, and there is a somewhat infectious sense that the people making this movie are having a really good time.
I'm also very partial to movies (especially mysteries, but of any genre) that can do that thing where they double back to a flashback, then let you rewatch a scene with a new understanding of the real dynamics at play. During its middle stretch, Glass Onion does this to pretty good effect.
But fundamentally I struggled with a lot of this movie because, for me, it takes the stories and the characters far too deep into farcical territory, to the point where it feels ridiculous in a not-good way. Knives Out had over the top characters, sure, but there was a much more grounded feel to it, mainly in the form of Ana de Armas's falsely accused nurse.
But here? Here we get people literally hiding behind trees to spy on people. Everything is overly poised and arranged. It's all too slick, and at the same time the mockery of everyone involved, including Blanc, robs it of any real suspense or emotional stakes. For about maybe 5 minutes, there was something that made me go "Oh, whoa!", but that feeling quickly falls by the wayside. Blanc is made a really active player in this story, as opposed to a keen observer. While this yields some good moments, overall I think that it makes for a weaker story.
There are some great little details in the set, just as in the first film. I loved a sequence of two characters eating at an outdoor restaurant, a bottle of sparkling water and a bottle of hand sanitizer in the middle of the table. There are lots of rewarding things if you look (like a perpetually slightly out of focus/uncentered self-portrait of Miles shirtless and lifting weights?).
I think I would have enjoyed this if it were a play that I was watching in a theater. But as a film it was kind of a miss. There's a distance and a contempt toward everyone involved. I love an ensemble mystery, but there have to be compelling character dynamics involved. When terrible people kill terrible people, eh. Who cares?
I hope that the future entries in this series steer back towards the vibe of Knives Out, which I really enjoyed. There's an obvious familiarity with old school mysteries, but what this film is missing that its predecessor had is a sense of affection.