Movie Review: Knives Out Has Peeled Success With Glass Onion
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is one of the best films of 2022 because it reminds you just how fun the movies can be. Daniel Craig returns as the sort of Pink Panther-ess detective, Benoit Blanc, to deliver a surprisingly goofier performance than the last, original Knives Out. In fact, the whole movie is surprisingly more fun.
Seeing the film with a friend, whom also saw the original, we were surprised how much lighter and cooky this sequel felt, and further opened that Knives Out could easily have even more star-studded sequels. While the first film was a mixture of deluded seriousness, ripened with a detective drama and a sincere analysis of the inter-dyanmics classism. Yet, this time, it was a simple, ¨screw-over,¨ and Janelle Monae, Helen and Anti Brand, made SURE we all knew she was NOT the one to do that to.
Monae steals this film right under some acting heavy´weights. First, Kate Hudson is one of the most charming actors out there. I low-key want her to play a wicked, Marvel villain just because she is so capable of making everyone like her, even if she is playing a banal ditz like, Birdie. Then, you have Edward Norton playing Elon Musk’s mirror or rather Miles Born, a sniveling tech billionaire, while Dave Bautista plays Duke, who could, easily, become the next host of info-wars. Just these three performances, alone, are hilarious stand outs, but you add Kathryn Hahn and Leslie Odom Jr as Claire and Lionel, two neurotic geniuses trying to mask their committed sins for career progression, and you have an explosion of hilarity and star power. So how did Janelle sweep them all?
For one, Daniel Craig’s surge of silliness as Benoit, made way for Janelle´s role to bring a level of seriousness and heart that warmed the film. For all its star quality and jokes, this film is about sisterhood, grief, and how both conquer death to bring some really good revenge.The juxtaposition is perfect, and further proof that Rian Johnson is slept on as a director. Not only giving us the best film out of the Star Wars reboot, Johnson has a vision and visual style that is 100% him. As writer and director, he makes Knives Out so unique and a total win for Netflix.
I know it is strange to say, especially after the GLORY that is Wednesday, but Netflix has a real shot of turning Knives Out into a cool, limited series. The potential is both fascinating and undeniable, and after watching Glass Onion, I not only wanted a sequel…. I really did want a whole season.
