Peeling the Glass Onion
Who let Rian Johnson off the set of Breaking Bad and how do we get him back there? I’m not upset that he escaped, I just wish we could have more Rian Johnson-directed episodes of Breaking Bad. What’s that? Breaking Bad is over and Rian Johnson still hasn’t made his Star Wars trilogy yet? And we’re just going to be getting Benoit Blanc movies from him for at least his next picture? Welp. Considering Glass Onion was this good, I am totally fine with that.
First of all, after Rian Johnson came out and publically said that he hates that this movie is officially titled Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, I will only be referring to this movie as Glass Onion. Up yours, Netflix. I do not care. Just like I refuse to call The Rise of Skywalker by its title and just refer to it as Star Wars IX, I will be calling your picture what I choose. This is not Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Get off my lawn.
Now that I have gotten the only real important issue out of the way, I have a couple of thoughts on the latest Netflix hit. Wow, that was an enjoyable time! In an awards season that has been full of overly long and frankly pretentious movies (that are still good), I was glad to get this breath of fresh air from Mr. Johnson. While I do appreciate these movies with serious and important topics, the weightiness of the season can really take away from my enjoyment of the movie-going experience. With Johnson, you never have that problem. His movies are always enjoyable, light, and forthcoming about what they are talking about. That honesty his movies have is what adds depth to them. Unlike the implied title of this movie, this movie has more to it than meets the eye.
Plot-wise, this movie follows the renowned detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) as he attends a weekend party on billionaire Miles Braun’s (Edward Norton) private Greek island. During the weekend old tensions and rivalries become apparent among Miles’ friends: Andi (Janelle Monae), Claire (Kathryn Hahn), Lionel (Leslie Odom Jr.), Birdie (Kate Hudson), and Duke (Dave Bautista). Foul play is suspected to happen and then occurs. It is on the shoulders of Blanc and the rest of those on the island to sort out who is trying to kill whom and stop them before it happens.
As an ensemble, it is a very well-balanced assortment of talent on our screen. Craig as usual is doing incredible work as a southern witty version of Sherlock Holmes. He is not the standard leading man in these mysteries because he is not the straight man to the eccentric cast; he is his own form of eccentricity. The jokes and fun physical movements he takes on make him an incredibly enjoyable character to watch. Not to mention the incredible outfits. All in all, this is not only a great performance but a great role. Monae, Bautista, and Norton all do well in their roles too. Bautista gets time to portray a meatheaded, macho moron but with a lot more zeal than sarcasm. So it’s new territory for him as opposed to a certain green and red alien he keeps playing. Norton gets to play an Elon Musk-type and he fills the shoes excellently. His role as Braun is tremendous in that it allows him to play an idiot who believes himself a genius. The best supporting role has to be Monae though. It’s a multilayered performance that gives her lots of range to play with as an actor. I have been impressed with her work in the past in Moonlight and Hidden Figures, but this is a new level of performance.
On the entertainment side there are a number of comedic gags that are ongoing and set up wonderfully. One in particular that I like has to do with Jeremy Renner’s brand of hot sauce. Also, the dialogue is witty and sharp like Knives Out was, and much of that comes from seeing all of these unique and crazy characters interact with each other. Most of those fun interactions stem from a character approaching Blanc, but most of the conversations we are party to have some fun aspects to them.
As far as sequels go this is not on the level of The Godfather Part 2 or The Dark Knight, but it is a worthy entry into this franchise and fills the shoes of Knives Out well. But I think it would foolish to just talk about how this stacks up compared to its predecessor or other sequels. What I think is most interesting about this franchise is how Johnson is breaking down the mystery genre and subverting the expectations around it. Think about it. Knives Out showed you how its murder victim dies within the first 20 minutes. Glass Onion gives away what Monae’s mysterious character is doing on the island during a flashback that happens halfway through the movie. While these plot decisions fly in the face of standard murder mystery procedure where we learn more and more about our persons of interest until a big reveal in the third act, I prefer Johnson’s method. His way allows for the themes and characters to develop more naturally and take place in the spotlight. Having the killer be revealed at the end takes the place of a character arc and it does not allow our protagonists to become more endearing to us. This new method is enticing to me, and I am excited to see what other mysteries Johnson can cook up.
8/10
Until I see another one