For a Quirky Detective, Another Murder and Another Mystery

From left: Edward Norton, Madelyn Cline, 
Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Leslie Odom Jr., 
Jessica Henwick, Kate Hudson, Janelle Monáe,
and Danile Craig in 
"Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Three years ago, writer-director Rian Johnson gave audiences one of the most enjoyable movies of 2019 with “Knives Out,” which followed a well-to-do family as they’re interviewed by eccentric detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), after the patriarch is murdered.  What Johnson did was take a classic type of story (the murder mystery) and reinvigorate it in such a way that showed such narratives can be just as entertaining as they were decades ago.

He now brings back Craig’s expert investigator for another round of sleuthing with “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.”  Although it isn’t quite as good as its predecessor, it still has enough laughs and thrills to make it a fun return to this franchise.

On a private island off the coast of Greece, tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) decides to host a murder-mystery party with his closest friends: ex-business partner Andi Brand (Janelle Monáe), Connecticut governor Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), his company’s head scientist, Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr.), fashion designer Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson), and video game streamer Duke Cody (Dave Bautista), as well as Birdie’s assistant, Peg (Jessica Henwick), and Duke’s girlfriend, Whiskey (Madelyn Cline).  When someone ends up murdered for real, it’ll be up to Detective Benoit to find the culprit.

While there are good performances all around from the cast, the standouts are Craig and Monáe.  Craig, once again, is humorous to watch as the southern-gentleman detective who doesn’t let anything escape his scrutiny.  He shows Benoit’s intense attention to detail and unwavering ingenuity as he goes about trying to solve the crime, and he always leaves you amazed at how he can figure out such things.  Meanwhile, Monáe is terrific as Mile’s scorned ex-business partner who helps Benoit on the case, showing a distain towards her former friends who’ve wronged her in a mysterious way and wanting to have each of them admit to their mistakes.  She has as much determination in her as Benoit, and seeing her take charge with her own investigation into what’s going on makes her the most exciting new character in this sequel.

With Johnson’s screenplay, he gives us enough time to learn about the characters’ backgrounds and the connections that they share, given that the murder doesn’t take place until about an hour into the movie.  However, an issue with his script is that the characters, outside of Benoit and Andi, aren’t quite as interesting as the cast of the original.  They all do what they can with the material that’s given to them; it’s just that they’re not provided with much of a chance to do a lot that’s memorable, even though we get to know quite a bit about them.  But, even with the rather thin characterizations, there’s still enough excitement to be had with the central mystery.  Between the clues, the motives, and a certain sequence that changes everything that has come before, Johnson knows how to craft an enticing puzzle that’s as mysterious as the shadowy hallways of the setting.  With his work here, he continues to show that he’s a screenwriter who knows how to trick his audiences and demand that they pay attention.

Just like in the first movie, Johnson exhibits an ability to get you invested in the multi-layered enigma.  With the way he utilizes his environment, having cinematographer Steve Yedlin (who has lensed all of Johnson’s films) framing the architectural complexity of Miles’ house in such a way that puts us on edge, and using snappy editing by Bob Ducsay (another frequent collaborator of Johnson’s) to keep us on our toes as to what’s unfolding, Johnson creates a sense of danger mixed with a sense of whodunnit enjoyment.  This is seen particularly in the few minutes leading up to the murder, with the camerawork, editing, and sound design mixing well to prep us for what’s about to happen.  

After two movies in this series, Johnson has already become a modern Agatha Christie of cinema.  Whatever mystery he has in store for his next go-around, Johnson has left enough clues as to the sense of fun that we can expect in the future.

Grade: B+