Albawaba- Rian Johnson is at it again, bringing us a sequel to his academy award nominated film knives out. Although Johnson intended for it to be a stand-alone film with only Daniel creges’s Benoit Blanc as a recurring character the name still had ''a knives out mystery'' for advertising purposes.
The project was greenlit by Lionsgate after the first movie grossed around 300 million $ on a 40 million $ budget. However, the movie rights were bought by Netflix after winning a bidding war against amazon and apple for more than 450 million $.
Filming took place in Spetses, an island in Greece then moved to Belgrade the capital of Serbia.
The movie starts with an introduction to Miles’s (Edward Norton) inner circle the Disruptors. An ensemble cast includes Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista. They are invited by Milles to his villa in Greece for a weekend-long murder mystery game. Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) appears to be invited to this weekend's getaway but not by Miles.
Knives out’s (2019) script was a masterpiece the twists in the movie made up for an incredible viewing experience. A genuinely remarkable whodunit mystery because it rejects the stereotypical whodunit tropes. Mild spoilers ahead.
2019’s Knives out’s script starts off as a normal whodunit movie where we need to find out who committed murder however mid-movie the film changes genres by showing us who did it and now it is a movie about how will they escape. In the last leg of the movie another twist, the donut hole inside the donut hole where we go back to who actually did it.
A glass onion takes a slightly different approach but remains true to the devious mistruths and plot twists. Johnson's policy of subverting ground rules that have already been assumed remains steadfast in his second installment.
The movie remains in the whodunit theme while upping the scales in every act. until the true mystery is actually revealed and solved by Blanc in the final act, the movie then turns into a revenge(esque) type of story. Yes, I just coined that term.
After multiple viewings of the movie fun little easter eggs can be spotted across the island as well as multiple camos throughout the film. The director actually leaves everything in plain sight to achieve the oooooh I should have seen this coming feeling. Eagle-eyed viewers could catch a few hints upon the first viewing but Johnson's use of blocking and camera work helps to keep the tension high, the viewers engaged, and the story a mystery.
It is always amusing to watch Daniel Craig on screen, especially with his outlandish southern accent, it was entertaining seeing him outside his zone in Glass Onion being thrown into a billionaire’s vacation villa with all this priceless art and technology throughout the island.
However, the remainder of the characters in glass onion feel flat. They each fall into their respective tropes save for in my opinion Janelle Monáe character.
The final act seems a bit over the top in contrast to 2019’s knives out subtle dark comedy and mature ending. But taken as a stand-alone film it goes with the overall feel.
written by Munir Abumuhor
