Daily Archives: December 24, 2022

 

It’s Christmas and current events are as depressing as ever, so I’m going to write about Glass Onion.

When Knives Out debuted a few years ago, I liked it but didn’t love it. It was good, not great. Mostly, it was a welcome respite from Hollywood’s endless stream of big-budget comic-book movies.

Daniel Craig, as comical detective Benoit Blanc, was amusing, and Christopher Plummer was Christopher Plummer. I am partial to comic murder mysteries, and Knives Out was pretty good. So how does its sequel stack up?

 

What’s good about Glass Onion:

  1. A lot of money was spent on sets, costumes, and cast, and it shows. It’s always fun to fantasize about lifestyles of the rich and famous — including the big stars who assemble on a billionaire’s secluded island in Onion.
  2. Madelyn Cline in a skimpy bikini (see below). 
  3. Noah Segan as an oddball houseguest.
  4. The premise, a rehash of And Then There Were None and The Last of Sheila, is suitably intriguing.

 

And Then There Were None

 

The Last of Sheila

 

What’s not so good about Glass Onion:

  1. The one-liners rarely make the leap from mildly amusing to outright funny. Kate Hudson, clearly intended to be a comic high point, is instead shrill and annoying.
  2. The movie is too long.
  3. After borrowing plot points from the two mystery classics named above, the script fails to innovate or surprise.

 

I suspect that if this movie had been released 30 years ago, or even 20 years ago, it would have quickly faded. But in 2022, with the bar so low for anything not comic-book-related, well, these are the Rotten Tomatoes scores:

 

 

When I reviewed Knives Out I gave it a B-plus. Glass Onion is entertaining but a step back for writer-director Rian Johnson. I’ll give it a B.

 

**

 

 

Used to be, you won a Best Actress Oscar and you no longer had to do nude scenes. Not anymore. Poor Jessica does not look happy.

 

**

 

I was hoping Elon Musk would stay on as Twitter’s CEO. But if he keeps on posting tweets like this one, I’ll be content.

 

 

**

 

Let’s have another look at cheeky Madelyn Cline in Glass Onion. Because it’s Christmas.

 

 

© 2010-2024 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

Share