Knives Out is smart, funny, and truly entertaining but I think it stumbles in the middle a bit before getting back on track to a truly impressive ending. And it introduces us to the endlessly watchable and engaging character of Benoit Blanc, wonderfully brought to life by Daniel Craig clearly having way more fun than he ever had as Bond. So the idea of bringing back this master detective to solve more mysteries feels like a no brainer. And now that we have the sequel it delivers in more ways than one.
For starters, I am going to posit that Glass Onion (whose subtitle "A Knives Out Mystery" I will completely ignore because it's just truly awful) is an even better movie than its predecessor. Some of the kinks that bug me about Knives Out are fixed here and the character of Blanc is richer and more fleshed out. This is one of the rare sequels that improves on the source material. It also brings back some of what made the first one good, including a biting and uncompromising critique of the wealthy and their predatory predilections.
It also brings back the way the first film switched gears half way through, giving us one mystery at the beginning and switching it out for another at the half way point, playing with our expectations and upending the drawing room murder mystery tropes the stories are playing with. It also (like the first one) brings together a great cast, clearly having a fun time with their characters. Glass Onion is another smart funny script, a sharp mystery, and some twists and turns with our hero Blanc at the centre.
Really at this point the only question left is when can we get more Blanc?
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Starring: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Katheryn Hahn, Leslie Odam Jr., Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Jessica Henwick, Madeline Cline, Noah Segan, Jackie Hoffman, Dallas Roberts
Writer/Director: Rian Johnson
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