"GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY" (2022) Review

 

"GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY" (2022) Review

Following the success of his 2019 murder mystery, "KNIVES OUT"; writer-director Rian Johnson created a standalone sequel called "GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY". The movie starred Daniel Craig, who reprised his role as the Louisiana-born master detective, Benoit Blanc.

Set during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, "GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY" . . . or "GLASS ONION" . . . featured Blanc solving a case that revolved around a tech billionaire named Miles Bron, owner and co-founder of the Alpha tech company, and his closest "friends" at the billionaire's private Greek island. The movie began with several of Bron's friends each receiving a wooden puzzle box to decipher to find an invitation inside - an invitation to a murder mystery game. The friends travel to Miles's island, along with companions for two of the guests. Famous detective Benoit Blanc joins them. Miles claimed he did not invite Blanc, but he allowed the latter to stay, assuming another guest sent him an invitation as a joke. Among those invited include:

*Alpha head scientist Lionel Toussaint
*Connecticut governor Claire Debell
*Controversial fashion designer and model Birdie Jay
*Birdie's personal assistant Peg
*Men's rights streamer Duke Cody
*Whiskey, Duke's girlfriend and Twitch channel assistant
*Ousted Alpha co-founder Cassandra "Andi" Brand

Not long after their arrival and before dinner, Miles showed off his valuable glass sculptures, as well as the Mona Lisa, which he has on loan from the Louvre to his guests. Miles also revealed that his mansion is powered by "Klear", a hydrogen-based alternative fuel that Alpha will launch imminently, despite Lionel and Claire's concerns that it is untested and dangerous. Blanc managed to solve Miles's murder mystery game immediately before it could barely start. But he privately warned Miles that his guests have motives to kill him. Before the first day could end, a murder occurred inside the mansion.

Once again, Rian Johnson utilized a social issue as a theme for his second murder mystery. In the case of "GLASS ONION", one would think the issue revolved around Birdie's casual racism or Duke's sexism. But the real issue seemed to be the character of Miles Bron. It did not take me long to realize that Johnson had based Miles on tech billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Page. But many have claimed that the Miles Bron bore the strongest resemblance to the most publicized tech mogul - Elon Musk. This movie seemed more focused on condemning the tech mogul types and probably the Internet celebrities than simply focusing on the usual social issues. I am not criticizing Johnson for this, especially since many of these tech moguls have proven to be influential on society today. Perhaps too influential . . . and for better or worse. In the case of Miles Bron, the worse seemed more obvious.

Miles' impact on the major characters seemed to be more personal than political. Both Lionel and Claire find themselves being forced by Miles to endorse his new alternative fuel, Klear; despite their fears that is untested and dangerous. Such endorsement would endanger their reputations and careers. Birdie needs Miles' financial support for her fashion line following the revelation that her factories were basically sweatshops. And Duke hopes Miles will give him a show on the latter's Alpha News network. Unfortunately, Miles has developed a sexual interest in Whiskey, Duke's girlfriend. However, Johnson's screenplay seemed more interested in the negative portrayal of Miles as the typical tech billionaire than his connections to the movie's other major characters. And this emphasis on tech moguls like Miles Bron, despite being genuinely interesting and entertaining, seemed to have a less powerful message than the one used in 2019's "KNIVES OUT".

"GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY" featured some very interesting characters, who almost struck me as borderline cartoonish. Mind you, I thought some of the characters managed to avoid this slight cartoonish taint - especially Benoit, Andi Brand, Claire Debella and Lionel Toussaint. But I found some of the other characters slightly exaggerated, yet at the same time, entertaining. Whether I found their characters exaggerated or not, I cannot deny that this movie featured some first-rate performances. I did not have an issue with one performance in this film. Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom, Jr., Kate Hudson, Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline and Noah Segan all gave first-rate performances. The movie also featured entertaining cameos from the likes of Hugh Grant, Angela Landsbury, Ethan Hawke, Stephen Sondheim, Natasha Lyonne, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jake Tapper and Serena Williams. The movie even featured images of Jeremy Renner and Jared Leto on appear on bottles of hot sauce and kombucha. But there were performances that impressed just a bit more than others.

One of those performances came from Dave Baustista, who was not only surprisingly effective as the sexist Duke, but also managed to convey more layers behind what could have easily been a cartoonish character in the hands of a less talented actor. I realize many would find this hard to believe but I did find the Miles Bron character a bit exaggerated at times. But Edward Norton gave such a fabulous performance as the arrogant and self-involved Miles that his exaggeration almost seemed natural to me. Janelle Monáe managed to attract a great deal of positive reviews for her performance as "Andi" Brand. And I can see why. She gave a phenomenal performance as co-founder of Alpha, who seemed embittered by Miles' ouster of her, following her refusal to support his new alternative fuel, Klear. More importantly, Monáe did an excellent job in conveying her character's edgy and intense personality, which kept everyone else on edge . . . and wondering if she had changed. Not surprisingly, Daniel Craig gave a perfect performance in his second outing as the New Orleans-born private detective Benoit Blanc. Not only did he managed to tone down his Foghorn Leghorn routine from the first film, I found myself entertained by his conveyance of Blanc's reactions to the lunacy and shallowness of Miles and most of his fellow guests.

But as much as I had enjoyed the movie's narrative, I had a few issues. Once, since this movie was set in May 2020, were audiences really supposed to accept Miles' quickie COVID-19 cure as effective? Considering Blanc's opinion of the billionaire, I rather doubt it. I suspect that Blanc, Miles and the latter's guests were forced to monitor their health, following their departure from the island. When the party's first real victim dropped dead, I immediately knew the killer's identity. This aspect of "GLASS ONION" bore a strong resemblance to one or two of Agatha Christie's novels. Also, I had a problem with the movie's revelation scene after Blanc exposed the real killer. I wish I could go into details about why I found the writing for that scene very contrived, but I do not want to spoil the movie. Oh well. At least I was impressed by Bob Ducsay's editing, especially in the film's revelation scene; and Steve Yedlin's colorful photography of the Greek locations, especially in the movie's first twenty minutes or so.

Despite my few issues regarding "GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY", I must admit that I still managed to enjoy it very much. The film benefited from Rian Johnson's screenplay and direction, along with first-rate performances from a cast led by Daniel Craig. Like I said, I enjoyed the movie very much. But I still believe "KNIVES OUT" was the superior film.

"GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY" (2022) Photo Gallery

 

Below are images from "GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY", the 2022 sequel to the 2019 mystery film. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, the movie starred Daniel Craig:




"GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY" (2022) Photo Gallery

Favorite JAMES BOND Action Sequences

 

Below is a list of my favorite action sequences featured in the James Bond films produced by EON Productions:



FAVORITE JAMES BOND ACTION SEQUENCES



1. Favorite Battle Sequence
a. Battle at Soviet Airbase ("The Living Daylights")
b. Battle Underneath SPECTRE Volcano ("You Only Live Twice")
c. Battle at Piz Gloria Resort ("On Her Majesty's Secret Service")
d. Battle Inside Ari Kristatos' Albanian Opium Processing Warehouse ("For Your Eyes Only")
e. Gypsy Camp Fight ("From Russia With Love")





2. Favorite Chase Sequence (car, foot, boat, etc.)
a. Foot Chase in Madagascar ("Casino Royale")
b. Ski Chase From Piz Gloria ("On Her Majesty's Secret Service")
c. Ski chase at Cortina Resort ("For Your Eyes Only")
d. Bike/Helicopter chase Through Saigon ("Tomorrow Never Dies")
e. Car Chase From Czechoslovakia to Austria ("The Living Daylights")





3. Favorite Hand-to-Hand Fight Sequence
a. Bond vs. Alec Trevelyan ("GoldenEye")
b. Bond/Pam Bouvier vs. Dairo and thugs ("License to Kill")
c. Bond vs. Steven Obanno ("Casino Royale")
d. Giacinta "Jinx" Johnson vs. Miranda Frost ("Die Another Die")
e. Bond vs. Emile Largo ("Thunderball")





4. Favorite Stunt Sequence
a. Bond and Necros's fight on a net hanging from an opened cargo plane ("The Living Daylights")
b. Bond's mid-air fight against Jaws and a thug ("Moonraker")
c. Bond and Wai Lin’s escape from Elliot Carver’s Saigon office ("Tomorrow Never Dies")
d. Corkscrew car jump outside Bangkok ("The Man With the Golden Gun")
e. Bond's parachute jump in Austrian Alps ("The Spy Who Loved Me")





5. Favorite One-on-One Gunplay Sequence
a. Bond's shootout against Soviet troops in East Germany ("Octopussy")
b. Bond's duel against Francisco Scaramanga ("The Man With the Golden Gun")
c. Bond's shootout against Adolph Gettler and thugs ("Casino Royale")
d. bond's shootout with Dario and thugs ("License to Kill")
e. Bond shootout with Brad Whittaker ("The Living Daylights")


What are your favorite action sequences from the James Bond movies?

"KNIVES OUT" (2019) Review

"KNIVES OUT" (2019) Review

Over the past seven to eight years, I have developed something of a mixed opinion of Rian Johnson as a filmmaker. I have only seen three of his films - 2012's "LOOPER", the 2017 STAR WARS movie, "STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII - THE LAST JEDI" and his recent film, the 2019 Oscar nominated film, "KNIVES OUT". I became a fan of "LOOPER". I disliked "THE LAST JEDI". In fact, I disliked "THE LAST JEDI" so much that I was almost reluctant to see his new film, "KNIVES OUT" in the movie theaters.

In the end, my curiosity won out and I saw "KNIVES OUT" in the theaters. Also written by Johnson, the movie proved to be an unusual mystery. Let me explain. "KNIVES OUT" begins with the Thrombey family gathering at the Massachusetts home of wealthy mystery novelist, Harlan Thrombey, to celebrate his 85th birthday. The following morning, Harlan's housekeeper, Fran, finds him dead in his private room, with his throat slit. The local police - Detective Lieutenant Elliot and Trooper Wagner - are convinced that Harlan had committed suicide. But the private detective accompanying them - Benoit Blanc - is convinced that Harlan had been murdered. It seems Blanc had been hired by anonymous party to investigate the novelist's death. When Blanc, Elliot and Wagner learn that Harlan's relationships with his family were strained, they find themselves with a list of suspects:

*Linda Thrombey Drysdale - Harlan's daughter, a real estate mogul who had started her company with his money
*Walter "Walt" Thrombey - Harlan's only living son, the CEO of his father's publishing company, whom the novelist wants to fire so that the former can forge his own career
*Richard Drysdale - Linda's husband, who helps her run her company and who is cheating on her with another woman
*Hugh Ransom Drysdale - Linda and Richard's son and Harlan's older grandson; a spoiled playboy whom Harlan had recently disowned
*Joni Thrombey - Harlan's daughter-in-law, widow of the novelist's deceased son, and a self-help guru; who has been stealing money from Harlan's estate
*Megan "Meg" Thrombey - Joni's daughter and Harlan's granddaughter, a college student whose education is threatened by the recent conflict between her mother and grandfather
*Donna Thrombey - Walt's wife and Harlan's daughter-in-law
*Jacob Thrombey - Walt and Donna's son and Harlan's younger grandson, who holds alt-right views

Blanc and the two police officers eventually turn to Marta Cabrera, Harlan's nurse and caregiver, for information on the family. It seems Marta had a close friendship with Harlan. But more importantly, neither Blanc or the cops are aware that Marta knows the true details behind Harlan's death and that it involved her accidentally administering him an overdose of morphine instead of his usual medication. Marta spends most of the film struggling to prevent Blanc, Elliot and Wagner from learning the truth behind her role in Harlan's death . . . unaware that a member of the family had set everything in motion in order to kill Harlan and benefit financially from his death.

"KNIVES OUT" was an interesting movie. And very unusual. Was it unusual in a good way or in a bad way? If I must be honest, I found some aspects of the movie rather questionable - only a few - but I can honestly say that its flaws had nothing to do with the unusual aspects of it. One problem I had with "KNIVES OUT" was its revelation scene of the story's true villain. I am not claiming that it was implausible. But . . . how can I put this? I found it a bit reaching. Just from looking at Harlan's toxicology report, Benoit Blanc was able to quickly unravel the mystery leading to the author's death. That toxicology report almost became a deus ex machina. I more than admire how Johnson used his story to examine the United States' outlook and treatment of immigrants - especially those from non-European countries. But with characters like Lieutenant Elliot and Fran, Johnson also had the opportunity to examine this country's attitudes toward race and class. And he never took it. Apparently, like Matthew Weiner and Joss Whedon, Rian Johnson can only deal with one issue at a time, even when he has the opportunity to touch upon more than one. My final problem with "KNIVES OUT" proved to be the status of Benoit Blanc in the story. I get it. He is private detective who was hired by an unknown client to solve the mystery surrounding Harlan Thrombey's death. My question is why the local police had more or less allowed Blanc to lead this investigation? Worse, the narrative bothered to explain how this happened, considering that no one - including Blanc - knew the identity of his client. According to the movie, Blanc had a high reputation as a private detective. So what? This is no guarantee that he would be allowed to lead the investigation into Harlan's death.

I would never be the first to say that "KNIVES OUT" was a perfect film. My complaints in the previous paragraph pretty much states otherwise. However, I cannot deny that this was not only a first-rate mystery, but a rather unusual one. Very unusual and very original. And I love originality in a story - especially when it is well written. Before I had even seen the film, I had assumed that its narrative would focus on the Benoit Blanc character investigating Harlan Thrombey's death. And it did . . . during its first thirty minutes or so. But when the narrative revealed that Harlan had sliced his own throat to save Marta's nursing career (and prevent her mother from being deported as an undocumented citizen) by hiding that she had accidentally given him the wrong medication, it focused on the latter's attempt to prevent Blanc and the police from focusing on the real details behind the author's death. And if I must be frank, I have never encountered such a narrative before. At least one I can recall.

Johnson also did an excellent job in conveying the politics behind Harlan's suicide and Marta's efforts to hide the truth behind his death. As I had stated earlier, Harlan feared that if Marta was punished for accidentally giving him the wrong medication, her mother, an illegal immigrant, would suffer by association. This is understandable, considering the strong anti-immigrant stance taken by many countries in recent years. What I found very interesting was Johnson's portrayal of the Thrombeys' attitude toward Marta. The older members affectionately call her "kid" and constantly remind her that they regard her as an official member of the family. Some family members like Joni Thrombey and her daughter Meg loudly beat the drum for a liberal, pro-immigrant stance. Richard expresses "admiration" for Marta because he believes her family had entered the United States "legally", revealing a passive-aggressive racism. Walt never says anything in support or against undocumented workers. He simply treats Marta as "a member of the family". Only his 16 year-old son Jacob seems openly bigoted. In a way, even Harlan belongs on this list.

Yet, despite the family's stance that Marta is "one of them", they do occasionally treat her as a servant - as shown in one moment when Richard automatically hands Marta an empty tea, assuming that she works for the family and not simply as Harlan's nurse. And not one member of the family cannot remember where Marta was born. As far as the Thrombeys were concerned, she was either from Paraguay, Ecuador and in the case of Ransom - Linda and Richard's son - Brazil. As for Harlan's Anglo housekeeper, Fran, she barely exists as far as the family is concerned. I suspect this is due to the fact that Fran is not as close to Harlan as he is to Marta. In the end, their "liberalism" is all about kissing up to Harlan in order to use him as a walking ATM. Speaking of Ransom Drysdale, he proved to be quite the dark horse. The character hardly ever interact with Marta, until the reading of Harlan's will. Following that incident, he learns about her mistake with Harlan's medicine and decides to help her deceive Blanc and the police. However, the movie eventually reveals that he does so . . . not from the goodness of his own heart. Despite being closer in personality to the mystery author, Ransom ends up proving that he is still a product of a privileged upbringing.

"KNIVES OUT" provided some very interesting performances. The solid ones came from the likes of Marlene Forte, Riki Lindhome, Edi Patterson, Jaeden Martell, and Shyrley Rodriguez. The movie also featured surprising, yet entertaining appearances from M. Emmett Walsh as Harlan's aging security guard, Frank Oz as Harlan's long-suffering attorney, and K Callan, who portrayed Harlan's centenarian mother with her eyes and one or two words. Katherine Langford did a great job in conveying Meg Thrombey's ardent liberalism and hypocrisy at the same time. Riki Lindhome gave an effective performance as Walt Thrombey's brittle wife, Donna. Noah Segan was both funny and enduring as police Trooper Wagner, who happened to be a fan of Harlan's novels. And Lakeith Stanfield gave a wry, yet humorous performance as the laconic Detective Lieutenant Elliot.

And then . . . we have those portraying the senior members of the Thrombey family. Toni Collette was very amusing, yet slightly mannered as Harlan's daughter-in-law, Joni Thrombey. Listening to her accent, I found myself wondering if her character supposed to be from Southern California. Michael Shannon gave a very subtle, yet intense performance as Harlan's younger son, Walt, who had become too dependent on his publishing company for success. Don Johnson, on the other hand, was hilarious as Harlan's unfaithful son-in-law Richard Drysdale, whose sardonic and outgoing personality hid his dependence on his wife and a bigoted streak. Jamie Lee Curtis was wonderful as the blunt, no-nonsense Linda Thrombey Drysdale, who managed to carve a successful business in real estate on her own - with Daddy's money, of course. Despite her more sympathetic portrayal, Curtis did a great job in proving that she was just as spoiled and over-privileged as the rest of her family. Christopher Plummer was marvelous as the clever, yet warm-hearted Harlan Thrombey, who seemed to have become aware that his success as an author and publisher contrasted with his failure as a family patriarch.

I am certain that many fans of Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) would be surprised to see Chris Evans in the role of Harlan's over privileged grandson, Hugh Ransom Drysdale. What I enjoyed about Evans' performance was that it was subtle, sardonic and if I must be honest, rather surprise. At one point it seemed as if his Ransom felt genuine compassion for Marta's situation . . . until he reveals his willingness to help stemmed more from his desire to get some kind of financial reward from her. I have never heard of Ana de Armas before "KNIVES OUT", yet she has been an actress for the past fifteen years or so. Many have regarded her role as the movie's heroine, Marta Cabrera, as a star making performance. In fact, she managed to garner a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. Did she deserve it? Uh . . . yeah! De Armas gave a superb performance as the kind-hearted, yet besieged Marta who was forced to juggle between her grief over Harlan's death, the feeling of being overwhelmed by the changes in her circumstances and her struggle to prevent Benoit Blanc and the cops from learning the truth about her patient's death. The actress' performance was balanced by a deliberately theatrical performance from Daniel Craig as the story's main sleuth, Benoit Blanc. Judging from his "Deep South" accent and French name, I can only gather that the detective came from one of the Gulf States - probably Louisiana. Now, I would not call Craig's Southern accent accurate. And I believe that he would be the first to say so. But for some reason, it matched his character's overly dramatic personality. I usually do not like theatrical or hammy performances, but there are some occasions when they actually worked. And Craig's Benoit Blanc worked like spades. With great skill, the actor managed to combine Blanc's theatrical personality with a talent for observation that would rival Sherlock Holmes. Like his leading lady, Craig managed to earn a much-deserved Golden Globe nomination - for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.

I will be the first to admit that I had a few quibbles about "KNIVES OUT". But only a few. In the end, Rian Johnson managed to create a first-rate and original mystery that managed to take me by surprise on several occasions. He did this with excellent direction and a superb cast led by Daniel Craig and Ana de Armas.

"KNIVES OUT" (2019) Photo Gallery

Below are images from "KNIVES OUT", a modern twist on the murder mystery film. Produced, written and directed by Rian Johnson; the movie stars Daniel Craig and Ana de Armas:



"KNIVES OUT" (2019) Photo Gallery