CNN
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Stepping up to the challenge of matching its successful predecessor, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” maintains the razor-sharp formula, with a setup that reads more like an Agatha Christie homage before launching into a very clever series. Also feels clear. the author -Director Rian Johnson again assembles a solid cast behind Daniel Craig, but it’s his use of language — where a word is wasted — that ultimately gives the sequel its edge.
Netflix opportunistically stepped in to acquire the “Knives Out” franchise and, in a departure from its usual “stroke the filmmakers’ egos” approach to theatrical distribution, gave the film a wide release for a week before actually hitting the streaming service. will give late december Most people will probably still wait to consume it in the comfort of their homes, but for those who do, it certainly plays well with an appreciative audience.
After the family dynamic in “Knives Out” that left everyone intent on killing the patriarch, Johnson tries his hand at a different setting, inviting his old friends along with a cynical billionaire, Miles Braun (Edward Norton). A murder-mystery vacation to his secluded Greek island (during Covid, no less), where they’ll be tasked with solving his “murder.”
The game, however, takes an unexpected turn, beginning with Craig’s invitation to master detective Benoit Blanc, who remains brilliant and strange in almost equal measure.
As for the select roster of guests/potential killers (and/or victims), they include a fashion designer/social-media loose cannon (Kate Hudson) and her partner (Jessica Henwick), a fitness influencer (Dave Bautista) and his girlfriend. . /sidekick (Madeleine Cline), a scientist (Leslie Odom Jr.), a politician (Kathryn Hahn), and most interestingly, Miles’ former business partner (Janele Monae).
While the latest film clearly lacks the sense of discovery that greeted the original — and even turned Chris Evans’ sweater into an essential item (not including Chris Evans), Johnson is smart enough to recognize that While this is about reloading, not reinvention. , a change in locations can still refresh the formula.
Craig, moreover, is clearly having a ball with this new signature role, trading in his tuxedo and physicality for a more cerebral form of crime-fighting, with Hercule Poirot-like gifts and a Foghorn Leghorn Southern twang. .
In one of them “Kneel before Zod!” flexes, Netflix Reportedly paid a fortune To get these sequels, which is obviously just the kind of deal that threatens to take a fun little movie and screw it up by creating unreasonable expectations.
Happily, “Glass Onion” finds new layers to explore, in a way that makes the prospect of a new “Knives Out Mystery” every few years sound like a perfectly reasonable idea, wherever and however one calls it. chooses to use
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” premieres on November 23 in the US. in theaters and on Netflix on December 23. It is rated PG-13.
