Five long-time friends are invited to the Greek island home of billionaire Miles Bron. All five know Bron from way back and owe their current wealth, fame and careers to him. The main event is a murder weekend game with Bron to be the victim. In reality, they all have reasons to kill him. Also invited is Benoit Blanc, the world's greatest detective.

I thought the first Knives Out movie was brilliant: old-school Agatha Christie-like mystery yet original with a contemporary flavour. Writer-director Rian Johnson displayed a great deftness for murder mystery storytelling.

So naturally I was quite excited when this, the second Knives Out instalment, was released. Unfortunately, while ultimately entertaining, this is not as polished as the first.

It starts badly enough with us being introduced to the five friends and Miles Bron. None of them are likeable and just appear your average superficial uber-wealthy/famous types. (There is one that is likeable but she seems unimportant to the plot...). The plot feels quite clumsy, especially when Benoit Blanc confirms my worst fears and comes across as a cheap, hammy version of Hercule Poirot.

However, from a point a layer of the onion is stripped away, starting a rollickingly entertaining ride, explaining much of the mystery and making for very engaging viewing.

The movie was heading for a fantastic climax when a twist leads us down a rather silly, clumsy detour, a detour that ultimately determined the conclusion of the movie. It all gets tied up well enough in the end but the detour and the resulting unevenness of quality turns what could have been a good movie into just an okay one.