Puñales por la espalda: El misterio de Glass Onion

I really enjoyed Knives Out and was looking forward to the sequel with much anticipation ever since it was announced. I was, however, disappointed.

With Glass Onion, director and writer Rian Johnson shows once again that he can carefully craft an intriguing story with brilliant direction. But with a bigger budget comes many challenges and unfortunately the movie fails when it is trying too be too extravagant and a spectacle for the viewers.

The core story is very interesting and after a dull start, the middle of the film really hits it's stride with Johnson moving his playing pieces about with ease and wonderment. That was when i most enjoyed the movie.

But the ending was ultimately disappointing. Childish humour and some sequences that were clearly for spectacle which i can only describe as 'throwing a tantrum' ruined this movie for me.

I had some fun with this but was left feeling robbed as there was definitely a compelling enough story here for this to be another great movie. I do feel the more intimate character/story driven moments in this film are where it shines and not in the big budget set pieces.

Watch this if you enjoy the genre, but please lower your expectations before doing so!

What happened?!

I am so bitterly confused!

I was looking forward to this film so much after Knives Out instantly becoming one of my all time favourites.

Did I overhype it? Were my expectations too high? Did I watch the same film as the critics?

By all means, I'm not saying this is a bad film but compared to the original, it misses rather hard. What an absolute let down.

I have no complaints about the cast, the score, the cinematography, the direction etc. It's the writing. Did Rian Johnson just forget what sort of film he was writing or something? It certainly showed a lot of promise in the first act, it definitely had me intruiged. The middle act had it's moments of twists and revelations I suppose. But the last act - what happened? What a mess. There was no pay off. It was such an unsatisfying conclusion. Honestly, it felt like they may as well have just said; "It was all a dream". It was so much off the mark which really hurts.

I'm glad to see that I guess a lot of people enjoyed it and maybe the next installment will be better. One can only hope.

The long-awaited sequel to Knives Out is here, and although it's still a good time, it feels like a let down overall.

The first film told such a unique and superb mystery that wrapped layers upon layers on top of each other. Meanwhile, Glass Onion tells a story that feels incredibly basic in comparison.

The main problem with this film is that although it's a mystery film, it doesn't give you the tools to solve the mystery. Instead the film walks through the plot and witholds infomation to have big reveals, rather than giving you the clues to work it out yourself.

Daniel Craig was fun the the cast was good overall, with Ed Norton being a big standout. Some characters felt wasted sadly.

Overall, a fun but underwhelming time.

The casting and performances by all were outstanding, especially Bautista and Norton, and I really liked the setting in Greece, but I feel the ending ruined what could've been a better sequel. There certainly was some creative ideas in the narrative, and even though the start was slow and tedious, it did get better when Benoit Blanc started to unravel the mystery. However, the unravelling was too as-a-matter-of-factly and too convenient in its set-up. And normally I'd be fine with that, because the few twists were a nice touch, but then right after the mystery was solved, the ridiculous antics just became too unbelievable and quite frankly, unnecessary. Still, and enjoyable one-time watch, especially if you enjoyed the first one.

Watching on the big screen, at its best this would be a solid 8+/10 movie, but there are a few areas that let it down.

First is the excessive lockdown/mask/Zoom scenes at the start of the film. This was never good comedic or dramatic material in the first place, and has already aged badly.

Second is a somewhat over-the-top finale which aims for spectacular but ends up a bit silly - and that isn't where a murder-mystery should be. Less is more.

But the greatest problem is the decision to re-tell the whole story from a different perspective half-way through. After carefully building the tension so that darkness falls with a murderer on the loose... the audience is taken back to the start again. It completely ruins the momentum of the film. Granted, this does allow the reveal to be even more complicated, but it also greatly reduces the wow-factor of Benoit Blanc's deduction. The genius detective solving the case is the fulcrum of this kind of movie and shouldn't be diminished.

Production values are high, and the supporting cast are good, although some have fairly slender roles. Kate Hudson is superb as Birdie.

In conclusion, I'm pleased to see Blanc back. Daniel Craig brought more eccentricity to the character this time around, but I liked it. A modern-day Poirot. I'd happily see a series of his adventures on the big screen. Just return to a more traditional murder-mystery structure (please).