One of the very few 2019 movies that was not based on an existing intellectual property to enjoy both massive commercial success and universal critical praise was writer-director-co-producer Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out.” He essentially rewrote the murder-mystery playbook.
Not a Sequel
The first of two planned follow-ups, “Glass Onion” (or “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”) is every bit as satisfying and vicious as its predecessor and thoroughly dodges anything resembling a sophomore slump. It does so by not adhering to a sequel formula, which is good, as it isn’t a sequel.As with adaptations of Christie’s books featuring sleuths Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, the only constant in Johnson’s two films is Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), a Southern gentleman detective fond of ascots, barbed niceties, and pointing out the obvious.
Along with five others, Blanc is invited to a gathering on a private Greek island owned by Miles Bron (Edward Norton), a tech billionaire who spoils himself with an array of impossibly expensive man toys and priceless works of art.
As the guests are arriving, Bron is playing the intro to the Beatles’ song “Blackbird,” on the same acoustic guitar Paul McCartney used when composing the song. When done, Bron drops it in the sand as if it were an empty beer can.
This clique has been close since their college days when they hung out at the “Glass Onion” oyster bar where Bron and Andi Brand (Janelle Monea) came up with the original idea for a company, which he now owns outright. Everyone is stunned that Brand showed up at all as Bron’s recent takeover was beyond hostile and has left her broke and not quite broken.
Clair Debella (Kathryn Hahn) is the current governor of Connecticut, who needs some of Bron’s fortune to help finance her run for the U.S. Senate. Kate Hudson plays Birdy Jay, a flighty model-turned-designer whose business acumen is non-existent.
Dave Bautista appears as Duke Cody, a YouTube rising star looking to raise his brand to the next level, and the final cog in the character wheel comes in the form of Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom, Jr.), a scientist in Bron’s employ who is strongly against releasing a new and untested form of a (fictional) concentrated energy crystal Bron is about to start marketing.
Everyone Has a Motive
Rather than starting with a death, this time Johnson begins “Glass Onion” with the proclamation by Bron of his own impending murder. There might not be a murder, but there is a death under odd circumstances followed by a great deal of cinematic shell-gaming indicating that everyone (save for Blanc) has enough motive, opportunity, (and greed, and avarice) to become a suspect.The closest Johnson ever gets to recycling “Knives Out” arrives at about the halfway point when he begins to present previously shown scenes from different points of view. Some of this material is hypothetical and suggested, some not, and others feature an additional new character absent in the credits.
The Anti-Bond
Having recently ended his 15-year (five-film) stint as the most serious James Bond, Craig is in many ways playing the anti-007 via Blanc. To an observer, his taking on another multi-installment character must have been a touchy double-edged sword, but he appears to be having a ball with the lighter material.With the notable exception of Sean Connery (who worked exceptionally hard to do so), none of the actors who have played Bond went on to bigger and better things. Pierce Brosnan was able to be part of the high-profile (and extremely lightweight) “Mama, Mia!” franchise, and has mostly eked out a living with character role parts in low-visibility stuff, but the rest of the ex-Bonds: nada.
There’s no reason to think “Glass Onion” won’t be received with the same levels of praise and approval by both audiences and critics and, personally, I can’t wait to see how Johnson wraps it all up. It would be beyond ultra-cool if Craig’s character could be able to utter the words “Blanc, Benoit Blanc” at some point in that film, winking and nodding with tongue planted firmly in cheek the entire time.
If you want to see “Glass Onion” before the end of this month, you better act quick; it will be in theaters for just a week before its Dec. 23 release on Netflix.
