Film Review: Benoit Blanc Plays A Game

Glass Onion is a murder mystery film and sequel to Rian Johnson’s Knives Out which starred Daniel Craig as master detective Benoit Blanc. Johnson wrote and directed this entry in what could be a promising film franchise if he continues to add to it. This time, the cast includes Edward Norton, Dave Bautista, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom, Jr., and Kate Hudson.

Norton plays a billionaire technology mogul who invites some friends to his private island for a murder mystery game. Somehow, sophisticated private detective Benoit Blanc also receives an invitation. It’s a pretty complicated collection of associates once Blanc figures that everyone has a motive to actually kill Miles Bron, the mastermind behind the macabre weekend. Someone is not who they appear to be, and the murder that occurs is anything but for fun and games.

It took a while for me to get really engaged with this film. Fortunately, Craig is a good enough actor that makes it easy for me to mentally separate him from his more famous role, James Bond. Blanc is wonderfully eccentric and engaging. I am even getting used to his unusual southern accent.

Bautista is a bit of weak link for me in the cast. I just found his character to be a bit too obnoxious, but that seems to be Bautista’s schtick. I thought Janelle Monae was pretty good though. She has a surprising dual role and does pretty well throughout the film. Norton gives his usual solid performance as the entitled billionaire on this film.

Rian Johnson is basically paying homage to Agatha Christie with this burgeoning series, but he does manage to display some originality with this effort as well.

I think the first film was better, but this one is not without favor. The moment where Blanc reveals the solution is as captivating as expected. There were some pretty clever red herrings planted. The beginning is a little slow, but Agatha herself sometimes took her time to get to the meat of the story.

I ended up enjoying this film, but I found myself hoping that Rian Johnson hits the next Blanc entry out of the park. Glass Onion is a solid effort but doesn’t quite make it to the back fence.

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