Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Review!

Alright! Today I'm reviewing the sequel to 2019's darling Knives Out, the original murder mystery flick from the man who ruined your childhood that shocked audiences everywhere by proving to be a thrilling time at the movies, a clever twist on the whodunnit, and an original film that made over $300 million (Unheard of in a cinematic landscape dominated by endless caped crusaders). Following the blowout success of the first, Netflix swooped in and bought the rights to two sequels for... $469 million? What? And in unrelated news, Netflix is currently $13 billion in debt.

And so the sequel, Glass Onion, has arrived three years later to more or less the same shtick. Daniel Craig returns as detective Benoit Blanc, here to solve a twist on the murder mystery with an ensemble brimming with stars. While it's not the impressive and well-developed ensemble of the first (Which included Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Christopher Plummer), Glass Onion does have a well-rounded cast with Leslie Odom Jr. (Of Hamilton fame), Kathryn Hahn (WandaVision, Parks and Rec), Edward Norton (Fight Club, Moonrise Kingdom), and Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy, Blade Runner 2049, Dune). A lesser offering than the previous adventure, but still substantial and economic for the Netflix release.

In a lot of ways, Glass Onion is very much Knives Out. Like all good mystery novels, the essential plot elements blur together - the charming detective with the Southern drawl, the young female sidekick with the fake-out death, eccentric rich people, and the murder twist that isn't really a twist - in lots of ways, the same framework and basic tropes were transferred to the sequel as seamlessly as if it were Pirates of the Caribbean - same shtick, different dressing. It doesn't make it any less fun, but it does make it feel less original than the first. 

Edward Norton was shockingly on point as a live action Mark Beaks here

Aside from the feeling of familiarity, Glass Onion is still a fun little subversion diversion. The movie never goes quite how you think it's going to go (An essential for a murder mystery), and the premise is once again unique enough that it always feels fresh despite also being derivative. The new setting, environment, and visuality of the film are just salad dressing to try and strike out as something new, and it works, for the most part, mostly due to the absolutely fantastic score.

Like Knives Out, Glass Onion is absolutely hilarious. While it's not as funny as the first one, it's still one of the year's better comedies with the absolute best moments being, once again, the Benoit Blanc recaps where he elaborately explains complicated plots and dazzles the viewer with his power of observation. The other standout is Dave Bautista as a Twitch streamer and men's rights activist, the most dynamic of the new cast that I felt could have been pushed just a bit further to maximize the character. However, I found several of the references here extremely dated, although they were accurate to the 2020 setting (I’m looking at you, Among Us). Cool to see Covid worked into a major movie. 

Overall, Glass Onion is just as admirable as the first one but lesser in a few places - the emotional heart of the journey is practically nonexistent, the ensemble, while great, doesn't have the same "wow" factor, and, subjectively, I found the old writer's misty house much more atmospheric than the Grecian billionaire's resort. While it is a worthy sequel, if I had two hours to myself I would choose to watch the first one every time. It doesn't do much other than solidify the Knives Out brand as the only reliably good modern whodunnit films.

In that regard, it reminds me of A Quiet Place Part II and Avatar: The Way of Water, two movies that felt like an extension of the first rather than a sequel, experiences I walked out of completely satisfied and on board for sequels. I had a good time; nothing more was needed.

Overall, I give Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery an 8/10. "Good but not great, Glass Onion is another fun (but derivative) caper for Benoit Blanc and company."

They really dropped the ball not giving this a wide theatrical release.