Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Rian Johnson's talent is evident from the get-go in 2022's GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY, the second in a proposed series with Daniel Craig as master detective Benoit Blanc.  Not many contemporary directors are as deft with actors as they are in love with their flashy style, and this suits this movie just fine.  Johnson has carved out an eyebrow raising filmography thus far, perhaps most famously with THE LAST JEDI, which triggered an amusing amount of diaper rash among pissed off STAR WARS fans.  The original KNIVES OUT film was a real treat, a latter day mystery inspired by (but not plagiarizing) the likes of Agatha Christie.  Its only shortcoming was a well meaning but awkward attempt at zeitgeist ribbing, which unfortunately affects this new film to further and more significant detriment. 

 

The mystery here is also not all that intriguing or surprising.  Johnson naturally attempts to outdo his predecessor by having a role playing murder mystery among a group of characters (described as - zeitgeist alert - "disruptors") wrapped in a real mystery when one of them is actually killed.   Miles Bron (Edward Norton) is a tech billionaire who invites five of his friends, said disruptors, to his private Greek isle for a reunion and round of game playing.  The invitation is in the form of a puzzle box to be solved.  Each friend is a controversial figure to some degree.

Claire (Kathryn Hahn) is a state governor/Senate hopeful.  Lionel (Leslie Odom, Jr.) is the resident genius who works for Miles at his company.  Andi (Janelle Morae) is the estranged former co-founder of Alpha, said company.  Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson) is a hard partying supermodel and fashion designer who routinely makes damagingly un-PC remarks in the press.  Doing likewise is Duke (Dave Bautista), who advocates for men's rights on social media, and is joined on the trip by his wayward girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cline). 

Blanc, who is bad at the current online game "Among Us", also somehow gets a box but Miles did not invite him.  Within hours Benoit solves Miles' "next level" mystery, leaving the disperate band to lounge around and reveal the origins of their tenuous and fragile relationships.  When one (no spoilers here) is poisoned and drops dead the plot congeals.  There will be more attempted murders and a midpoint twist, revealed during an extended flashback, that maybe we should've seen coming.  The identity of the assailant is easy to guess.  If Johnson was attempting any serious red herrings he was less than successful.   

The location filming in Greece is stunning, and D.P. Steve Yedlin and Johnson make everything gleam.  GLASS ONION is a pleasurable, if overlong, watch.  Mr. Craig may have found his signature role (sorry, 007) as he fully embodies it with aplomb, and a confident accent.  He alone is the reason to see the movie.  There are a few surprise cameos, though none are utilized to any great effect.  The rest of the cast is kinda dull, honestly.  Hudson's role had potential but Johnson's script should've given her more opportunities to flesh out her audacious character.  Norton is good at playing insufferable assholes but he does nothing new.   Despite claims to the contrary by the director,  I don't believe it's an  accident that Miles will remind you of Elon Musk.

Which leads to the main dilemma.   The story becomes bloated and too self consciously topical.  I've already referenced a few current bits.  I neglected to mention that GLASS ONION takes place during the height of the pandemic, masks and all, also to no great effect.  The "Mona Lisa" painting (the real one) is a significant part of the plot and will ultimately be used as a reference to real life vandalism threats.  And so on.  I don't object to artists making allusions to contemporaneous events, but like Andrew Dominik's attempts in this movie, Rian Johnson's subtexting needs some refinement.  Maybe for the next film, already in the works, he should just stick to an airtight, polished mystery whose interest will derive from timeless cerebral mystery solving calisthenics and rich characterizations rather than weak and heavy handed polemics.