Glass Onion (Knives Out 2)

[revlob]

Jared Leto's hard kombucha.

[Commander Jameson]

WHAT IS REALITY??!

[Alex W.]

1 hour ago, RubberJohnny said:

Whereas here, it’s telling that people are only really championing it based on its political message or the strength of the performances rather than its story. It’s a fun couple of hours, but ultimately pretty disposable.

What heckin thread are you reading?

[Orion]

I watched the original last night again and still think it's a strong 4 out 5 film. This was a 2.

 

I didn't think the main cast outside of Craig held a candle to Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Chris Evans etc in the first. Janelle Monae was good 

Spoiler

but when they introduced her as the twin sister. The film started to really drag and I felt totally lost its way. Long exposition scenes and by the final reveals. I couldn't give a shit tbh.

 

Was excited for this but if they make any more will wait on reviews.

[Exidor]

Did anyone else enjoy young Miles' look?

 

Spoiler

 

[Kromeo]

That was my favorite joke/piece of characterization of the film. When I saw him dressed as Jobs I truly realized how the man had no original ideas of his own, ever.

[Triple A]

We really liked this - understood that this goes against the grain but I preferred it over the first one I think, it felt a bit more of a shakeup of the usual whodunit formula which was welcome.  Janelle Monae was completely amazing.

Loads of fun and the best non-Christmas Christmas franchise in ages!

[Uncle Mike]

We really enjoyed it too. I don't think it's much of a whodunit really

Spoiler

Once you see Duke die, it's fairly obvious that no-one's got good reason to off him other than Miles, and similarly, Andi?

 

But as a murder-themed story, we really enjoyed it as a fun romp. All the characters were fun, the story mostly hung together well, and obviously it's gained some incredible serendipity with Musk's public profile sinking this last 6 months.

 

I was waiting for a twist that never came

Spoiler

I thought maybe Andi/Helen were going to reveal that she survived the murder attempt somehow and that there was no twin in the end, but obvs not

 

Does it completely stand up as a mystery? Probably not (I can't recall, but remember feeling the same way about Knives Out.) But as a fun tale of dickheads getting what they deserve, it's a lot of fun.

[jonamok]

It was fun enough, and very funny in places. Certainly not as good as the first, though tonally more of a farce than a whodunnit, with much less likeable characters. As has been said, basically a two-hour Musk piss-take.

3/5.

[Quest]

I enjoyed this enough. It's messy and tonally weird but I was happy to spend a couple of hours to see how Born Slime gets his inevitable comeuppance. That and Blanc's wonderful outfits.

 

I assume they're doing more of these?

[Popo]

Watched it last night and thought it was brilliant. If Knives Out was a loving parody of the whodunnit genre, this was a parody of Knives Out. It was way goofier than I expected, which worried me to begin with, but my fears were soon allayed as it proved to be just as tightly plotted and the first movie. Mild spoilers:

 

Spoiler

The Rashomon-style switch halfway through, where you see all the same scenes but from a different perspective, was a great change of pace, and prevented the film just being a rehash if the first. 

 

Also, the blink and you’ll miss it cameo was just wonderful. Both these movies have put a massive smile on my face, and as I said when I saw the first one, I look forward to the continuing adventures of Benoit Blanc. 

[Loik V credern]

Spoiler

Watching again Miles react to Andi turning up on the beach, it's quite clear actually that's a thousand yard stare of someone looking at a person appear who he definitely saw die, rather than just surprise at an old friend he's since had terrible relations with. 

 

I guess it doesn't matter that Norton over sells it because no one could possibly guess the twist. 

 

It's not clear he knew she had an identical twin in any of their interactions after that, I know people are saying he must do, but everyone just takes her as Andi, not Helen (except Benoit). The next time Miles interacts with her, he just says 'I really am glad you came' then puts his hand on her shoulder which is meant to show him trying to comfort her but I'm taking it as him checking she's physically there.. yeah that's how i'm taking it. 

 

There are other films I've seen that seem lazy to me when a twist is revealed that completely flips who characters are that can't make sense based on the dialogue you've already seen. Like dialogue where they clearly are nice people scared and then they're revealed to be pyschopathic killers and it doesn't add up when the dialogue was between them when alone.

 

So in Knives Out 2 it's not a big deal and nothing hinges on it but you see Helen introduce herself to Benoit on the beach after everyone else has walked off, probably not necessary for them to do that when no one would be watching or suspecting. 

 

Has anyone got any thoughts on the Mona Lisa thing? 

 

[Benny]

Spoiler

When they introduce themselves to each other I just take that as them practicing their play acting, like they start doing in the cafe shown later.

 

I also like the idea that it was really a fake Mona Lisa as there's no way on Earth the French government or whoever it was would allow it to be lent to a feckless billionaire. But that works because he has such a massive all-encompassing ego, that he couldn't possibly believe it wasn't the real deal as he would assume it's something he deserves to have, seeing himself being just that important in his head. I feel like the curious expression Benoit has on his face when he first sees it might be a mixture of disgust at this guy having the painting, but knowing how much of a cultured genius Blanc is I now also wonder if he was kind of evaluating the painting itself and spotting something amiss.

 

[Pete]

I might be wrong but wasn't 

Spoiler

The guitar he was playing on the beach right handed? 

 

[Headache]

Saw the film last night and really liked it, loved the humour of it a lot.

Some Mona Lisa thoughts:

Spoiler

I thought the burning of the Mona Lisa was a great loop back around to Miles' ridiculous "Disruptors" speech about how they're all so amazing because they destroy things that people think shouldn't be disrupted. Helen burning the Mona Lisa felt like a powerful symbolic response to that worldview by showing them just how stupid it is to pride yourself on disrupting the work of others just for the sake of it, and that even Miles who apparently loves to see everything disrupted is not so happy about it when it's his work or something that he values that gets torn down. 

 

I'd also like to imagine Miles was given a replica of the real Mona Lise and told it was the original. Considering how stupid he is with everything else, it's totally believable that he'd fall for that, and that no government/museum would trust him with priceless pieces. Even without it, headlines like "Billionaire's private island blows up while using his new controversial power source." Would probably be enough to sink Alpha if he really had invested everything into it.

 

[Loik V credern]

1 hour ago, Benny said:

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When they introduce themselves to each other I just take that as them practicing their play acting, like they start doing in the cafe shown later.

 

I also like the idea that it was really a fake Mona Lisa as there's no way on Earth the French government or whoever it was would allow it to be lent to a feckless billionaire. But that works because he has such a massive all-encompassing ego, that he couldn't possibly believe it wasn't the real deal as he would assume it's something he deserves to have, seeing himself being just that important in his head. I feel like the curious expression Benoit has on his face when he first sees it might be a mixture of disgust at this guy having the painting, but knowing how much of a cultured genius Blanc is I now also wonder if he was kind of evaluating the painting itself and spotting something amiss.

 

 

Spoiler

Yeah I think I take it as that as well. It's probably something only Rian Johnson can clear up. I don't know what it says that I didn't doubt or consider for a second that when Miles says he has the actual Mona Lisa I just accepted it. 

 

I liked the Red Hot Chili Peppers joke, a similar one would be 'you know...people only focus on the tortured voice of Thom Yorke and overlook the guitarist, Johnny something, that kid has got skills'. I just use Radiohead as an example because for fans Colin's bass is a big part of a lot of tracks, and  that would be something a proper fan would offer up. Although an even bigger fan would then say 'well actually Thom also writes a lot of those bass lines, so...'

 

The criticism of them all not likely to know eachother is played up I think, when they're in the bar and long haired Miles is introduced to them it's just silly. 

 

I really liked Knives Out but I didn't think it was an unparalleled masterpiece or anything, what it did have that other murder mysteries I watch don't have is a genuine mystery, you want to know who did it. Maybe Rian Johnson thought if he's going to make a number of these then he couldn't just try to repeat the first tonally, emotionally that then is just a pale imitation. Maybe he had to completely switch it up to give him a breather on how to do something similar again. Or...not. He just wanted to have fun and isn't thinking too hyper critically. 

 

Quote

Following the success and acclaim that Knives Out drew, Johnson quickly began making plans for Detective Blanc to return in further standalone mystery sequels. This even caught the attention of streaming giant Netflix, who beat out Amazon and Apple with a $450 million deal for the exclusive rights to Knives Out 2 & 3. 

 

"We have one more movie in our contract with Netflix, but I don't see it as a trilogy. I see it as an ongoing thing. As long as Daniel [Craig] and I are having fun and coming up with something new and exciting every time, we'll keep doing this as long as we can."

 

[Benny]

I also read that apparently Johnson was thinking of having Benoit Blanc have a completely different accent for each film, which would have been very funny, but also probably piss lots of viewers off

[FishyFish]

On 24/12/2022 at 23:05, Mr.Crowley said:

I was thinking the same thing. Loved this, and Monáe was a revelation. Not a weak link in the entire cast.

Monae was really good in the second season of Homecoming too.

[Vulgar Monkey]

2 hours ago, Benny said:

I also read that apparently Johnson was thinking of having Benoit Blanc have a completely different accent for each film, which would have been very funny, but also probably piss lots of viewers off

 

Lol. Aside from the funny, do you remember why he was considering that?

[Benny]

No idea, was just a bit of trivia I saw on Wikipedia.

[Treble]

On 25/12/2022 at 17:43, Treble said:

Fine, bound to become a non-Christmas-Christmas-staple, but not a patch on the predecessor. 

 

On 25/12/2022 at 19:25, Festoon said:

It's a one watch, never watch again.

 

9 hours ago, Triple A said:

 the best non-Christmas Christmas franchise in ages!

 

^ that's what I meant. Like Death on the Nile, Wallace and Gromit and Mary Poppins, people are going to associate the films with Christmas, and become festive staples. 

[Unofficial Who]

There's a lot of people here and elsewhere saying this isn't a patch on Knives Out...which is great news for me because I loved this and have only watched five minutes of Knives Out (my partner noped out due to the throwing up.) I'm definitely going to make time to watch it alone sometime soon for a reverse disappointment.

 

A couple more spoilerish observations.

 

Spoiler

I know a lot of people hate Rian style subversions but I loved that I went in along with the main character expecting an elaborate puzzle box of a mystery only for it to dissolve into a messy Burn After Reading style farce that even Benoit was disappointed in! He's like a stand in for the audience with his denouement of how the murders were stupid and dumb.

 

I also loved 

Spoiler

...the change of context half way through that also changes a lot of Benoit's previously innocent asides to Miles showing them to be Columbo style passive aggressive barbs. Right from the start, the innocent "I was sent a puzzle box with some simple puzzles for children" is not only shown up to be a lie, it's said to directly put the wind up Miles. A second watch could be fun.

On parallels to Among Us,

Spoiler

-There is an imposter.

-When "the game" officially begins at 10 with the lights shutting off everyone splits up in a chaotic fashion following their own agendas and being paranoid about everyone else, just like most games of Among Us.

-"The game" ends with Benoit calling an emergency meeting.

-An imposter is initially voted out (before she sets everything on fire.)

-A second vote is held on the steps where one could argue the real imposter is voted against.

 

[ZOK]

It was okay, but really kind of boring once they started ‘explaining’ the behind the scenes stuff. On a par with Knives Out, which is an okay movie but nothing special either.

[denisb]

Enjoyed the first one hoping this is decent .

Just about to watch on big screen (living room wall)

 

[Alex W.]

Imagine watching a movie so big that it’s trees getting in the way instead of pets.

[Stanley]

I was concerned reading some of the comments here that this wouldn’t be any good, or maybe a bit average. It was fucking awesome, absolutely loved it. 
 

Spoiler

When it cut to Hugh Grant just standing there at the door, I thought I’d changed channels by accident. 

[Purin]

I was expecting another nice whodunnit, but this was so overblown, overlong, and just gave me a headache.

[ZOK]

1 hour ago, Stanley said:

I was concerned reading some of the comments here that this wouldn’t be any good, or maybe a bit average. It was fucking awesome, absolutely loved it. 
 

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When it cut to Hugh Grant just standing there at the door, I thought I’d changed channels by accident. 

It’s the very definition of ‘a bit average’.

[Purin]

On 26/12/2022 at 22:56, Orion said:

I watched the original last night again and still think it's a strong 4 out 5 film. This was a 2.

 

I didn't think the main cast outside of Craig held a candle to Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Chris Evans etc in the first. Janelle Monae was good 

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but when they introduced her as the twin sister. The film started to really drag and I felt totally lost its way. Long exposition scenes and by the final reveals. I couldn't give a shit tbh.

 

Was excited for this but if they make any more will wait on reviews.

 

I completely agree, my scores on Letterboxd even match!

 

Yeah, the spoilered bit was just too much for me and it went downhill fast from there on.

[SpagMasterSwift]

What a load of bollocks this was, really disappointing stuff.