(M) ★★★★
Director: Rian Johnson.
Cast: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista.
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| No one was looking forward to the return journey in the tiny car. |
The mystery genre feels like its thrived in the world of TV more so than film recently. While seemingly every second TV show in this Golden Age is a mystery - from the new Addams Family reboot Wednesday to the quirky comedy of Only Murders In The Building - finding a good whodunnit contained within two hours or so is a pursuit worthy of a private eye.
In recent years, only Kenneth Branagh's Hercule Poirot adaptations and Rian Johnson's Knives Out have stood out in the cinematic line-up. And thankfully a standalone sequel to the latter is here, and it's even better than the first Benoit Blanc outing.
Craig returns as Blanc, the "Southern gentlemen" who happens to be the world's greatest detective. Here he finds himself inexplicably invited to the island of tech billionaire Miles Bron (Norton), who has called together several of his nearest and dearest "frenemies" for a luxury getaway weekend on his private Greek island.
But the invite is for than just a party - Bron is promising that the invitees will be witness to Bron's murder. And that's just the beginning of the intrigue.
Johnson's screenwriting knack is evident again here, with the entangling of the mystery and the themes at the story's core unfurling in an even more satisfying manner than in Knives Out. Here he skewers the super-rich and the new celebrity elite with a sure-fire wit, whether it be pointing out the idiocy of the Elon Musk-like Bron, or getting laughs from the many social media gaffes of model-turned-fashionista Birdie Jay (Hudson).
The mystery is also neatly manufactured, though it remains to be seen whether repeat viewings reveal cracks or the true talent of the writing. Still the film's mid-point switcharoo is a daring and enjoyable one that is as devilish as it is fun.
None of this would work without a perfect cast, and Johnson has one here to match the stellar call-sheet from Knives Out. Craig is again in riveting form, while Bautista's man-dom dimwit, Hudson's beautiful airhead, and Norton's smarmy tech guru are also a highlights.
However it's Monae who steals the show in a tricky, layered role which she masters via every look, pace and inflection. It's a wonderfully nuanced performance in a film that enjoys its big over-the-top moments just as much as its quiet cleverness.
The mis-directions of the story are a giddy thrill, and the humour is laugh-out-loud in places. The movie revels in its later insanity, building to it well, even at the expense of keeping things believable.
Of course, a good murder-mystery isn't about believability. It's about whether the film can carry out its trickery within the rules of its own perverse logic and the unspoken guidelines of the genre. And in that sense, Glass Onion works perfectly. While it's not as hard-hitting with its satire as it could have been, and a few twists ask a lot of the audience, the film is excellent escapist fun, driven by a top-shelf cast.
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