Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) Dir: Rian Johnson
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In 2019, Rian Johnson gave audiences a wonderfully modern murder mystery, which paid homage to, and took inspiration from, some of the many great stories of the genre, whilst creating a new, witty and unique detective to follow along on his investigations.
Whilst that story is technically a standalone, it did not stop Netflix from producing a quasi-sequel featuring the prior films intriguing protagonist.
Johnson once more wrote, directed and co-produced this story, and made sure to create a completely different story to that of his first effort. The narrative is certainly interesting, but I can't help but feel that it does not live up to its predecessor.
The twists are very hit or miss; some of them are very well executed, while others are just a little too ludicrous for my taste. There was also a lot of somewhat meta content and references to real life events, which were kind of cool but also a little jarring.
Daniel Craig returns as the eccentric and enigmatic protagonist, and continues to show his contagious flamboyance and flair with utter ease. I love that this role is so opposite to what he did as James Bond. He gets to show his lighter, more comedic side, which he does excellently.
Edward Norton can be quite inconsistent as an actor, but I found his performance here to be great fun. He clearly understood his character and really delivered on their personality and mannerisms. His facial expressions in particular were very good.
I think my second favourite performance, behind Craig's, was that of Janelle Monáe, who truly shon here. She showed some real versatility in her performance and managed to convey her character's emotions perfectly.
Another good display came from Kate Hudson, who must have had so much fun with her character. She was maybe a little too silly at times, but that's really nitpicking, honestly. Her comedic timing was almost impeccable, and she was one of the film's best characters.
Kathryn Hahn is always an entertaining figure, and she is no different in this supporting role. Her ability to overact just enough for it to work is so good, which, matched with her great comedic timing, makes for some really hilarious moments from her.
Madelyn Cline started slow but quickly became one of the better performers in the film. As I've illuded to, I wasn't completely sold on her at first, but she grew into the narrative well and definitely had some strong scenes.
Dave Bautista has quietly built himself a very commendable acting portfolio, with his best performances coming in more comedic roles. And it must be said that this goes up there as another decent display from the former professional wrestler. I really enjoy his comedic delivery or lines and he never seems to mind making himself looking silly for the purpose of entertainment.
It was a shame to see Leslie Odom Jr and Jessica Henwick, two very talented actors, get shuffled to the background for the most part here. I really think their characters had so much more they could've given, but they never got the opportunity to do so.
There are also a myriad of cameos, some very random, but still fun. If you want to avoid knowing who they are, skip to the "overall" section of the review.
The surprising cameos included the likes of Ethan Hawke, Hugh Grant, tennis legend Serena Williams, Jackie Hoffman, Angela Lansbury, Stephen Sondheim, Natasha Lyonne, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Yo-Yo Ma.
I also want to give a mention to Noah Segan, whose character was another strange inclusion, but an entertaining one for sure.
Overall, while this is definitely an enjoyable and clever murder mystery, it can't quite live up to the quality of its predecessor. That said, the bar was admittedly very high and you will have a great time watching this unfold...I still won't forgive Rian Johnson for The Last Jedi though, wink wink.
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