2019 really was the best year for film I’ve had in my movie watching life. Of course I was alive for 2007, but to be a movie watcher in 2019 where Knives Out a movie that I really utterly adored ranked around my 5th favourite is really truly something. In short I’m addressing the fact that beyond my genuine excitement and thrill at the news that Benoit Blanc would be solving another mystery in the future, this film had tremendously large shoes of its own making to fill. Well, it is with immense pleasure that I can comment that Glass Onion was not only a brasher, more bombastic, louder, more complex and funnier - if not better in totality - film than the first one, but it is certainly another marvellous entry into what has quickly cemented itself as my most anticipated series of films currently being released. 

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Puzzles and mysteries are such a tightrope walk. Rhian Johnson knows this so wonderfully, and this film highlights once again his complete revolution and modernisation of tropes, fuelled at all times by a fervent love of the genre and its rules too. Johnson is constantly subverting and perfectly delivering tropes to such an extent that this really is one of the most enjoyable movie experiences I’ve had in a long time. It’s just so damn enjoyable, so funny, so charming, so enthralling and so brilliantly conceived.  For me the biggest tell is this, in both cases with the first film and now the second, I have guessed correctly who the killer was and to some extent their motivation, I say this not to boast but to instead highlight the fact that I still thoroughly enjoyed the film and can’t wait to watch and rewatch again. Not to throw other films under the bus for lazy comparison, but with the recent See How They Run, I guessed the killer almost immediately and felt cheated by how lazy the overall twist and reveal was. But here the direction, the writing, the performances are all of such an incredible level that one can’t help but want another ten of these if they are all this level. Johnson’s efficiency and craft is sublime and this film for as much as it is louder and sillier and broader, still really does manage to contain within its multitudes a perfect dose of winking and fully knowing aswell as admiration and perfection of this somewhat tired genre. For any fan of the genre the references and influences in the case of this film specifically The Last of Sheila are obvious to a fault almost, but with dialogue, it’s subversions and even some of its cameos, the reverence and respect and intelligence with how to remake and remould these influences leads to a fun, fresh and exciting feature indeed.


Glass Onion does just manage to be that perfect package, it really does. Beyond Johnson, all else involved with the film succeed in the job that this proposal offers; a grander, more creative and certainly more absurd in parts mystery compared to the first film. It feels in so many ways like we are now seeing one of the more over the top mysteries that Blanc had solved in the past (the infamous ballerina case) that we only hear passing mention of in the first film. The cinematography of Steve Yedlin, the music of Nathan Johnson, the editing of Bob Ducsay, the production design of Rick Heinrich’s, all is so much more sumptuous and more opulent and perfectly fitting of everything this sequel is going for. It’s a truly fabulous and rich filmic experience, and again, just plainly so much fun. But above all else the performances are similarly sublime. The grand and expensive cast of famous names is of course a huge draw and here is played upon not for just simply a list of stars, but the absolute best that it should be, a chance to get some of the most talented of their generation and put them in roles that in all cases fit them absolutely perfectly and play upon their best strengths as performers. Standouts are hard as every single person is really doing stellar work. Edward Norton is terrific, as is Janelle Monae, they are the highlights if there is one. But I resent the sentence in many ways because above all this is an ensemble of astounding talent all working with great material. But Craig once more as Blanc offers a genuinely richer and finer performance here, and certainly no less enjoyable and funny. Perhaps with him we get the biggest tightrope of all, I know he’s a marmite character but I am so completely enamoured with the character and Craig as him that these films are indeed some of the most fun I have had watching films in a long time. It’s big screen spectacle, even if it’s on Netflix, and it’s absolutely wonderful! 


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Conversations of which is better will come, but for now I can comment that for me Glass Onion is certainly another 10/10. Such a tightly crafted and perfect epic of this scale has not been seen in a long time in the world of the murder mystery and its a joyous and incredibly successful venture I must say. A broad and incredibly enjoyable expansion. 


P.S. There are certain films that have been made it seems just for me. This is such an example. The specific references to Magnolia that made me belly laugh, the cameos of my genuine all time favourite people… just. The whole thing. Craig! It really was a tremendously enjoyable experience that beyond my personal idiosyncrasies will be a crowd favourite for many who watch I feel. 


- Thomas Carruthers