A surprise smash hit in 2019, Rian Johnson's Knives Out proved once more that audiences are hungry for star-studded whodunit mysteries, with the adventures of Daniel Craig's colourful southern detective Benoit Blanc quickly being green-lit for more adventures that have eventuated here in Netflix's massive acquisition Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.

Transporting the action from a Gothic American estate/family drama, Glass Onion finds Blanc on an isolated Greek island owned by Edward Norton's billionaire entrepreneur/disruptor Miles Bron who has invited Blanc and a collection of his closest friends to his lavish abode for a weekend away, that just so happens to be a potentially real life murder mystery event.

As is the case with any of Johnson's previous films, Glass Onion is anything but a one dimensional and singularly layered feature with many components working together in tandem to give viewers a unique watching experience, one that here finds an all-star cast having a blast bringing their flamboyant characters to life and acting alongside one another, in what acts as one of Netflix's most extravagant and polished films that provides the type of viewing experience that fans of the original will be chasing again this second go around the Blanc merry-go-round.

Much like the original surprise hit, Glass Onion has plenty of laughs, double crosses, ducking and weaving back and forward around key plots and lots of metaphors and meta musings but despite the fact this is a well-acted, sharply scripted and vividly filmed whodunit much like Johnson's first Blanc outing, the actual central mystery at the heart of all the comings and goings isn't utterly gripping, while the films pay-off and long in the tooth runtime does start to grate as time wears on, making this a fun and pleasurable crime solving jaunt but also one that has been adorned with undue praise calling it one of 2022's best.

It's not too say some of the praise is unearned, with Johnson once more showcasing that his one of the most talented screenwriters operating today, with Glass Onion providing more than its fair share of quotable quips and ponderings, while new additions to the Knives Out universe such as Dave Bautista's gun-toting Twitch streamer Duke Cody, Norton's Bron and Janelle Monae as the complicated Andi provide a number of great moments and chances for his actors too shine but there's something a little off about Glass Onion's components all coming together at once, halting the film from being a masterpiece you sense Johnson wants it be, even if it's an undeniably crowd-pleasing one regardless.

Final Say -

There's a lot of fun to be had from Glass Onion and fans of the first Knives Out are going to have a blast joining Benoit Blanc for another adventure but the curious sentiment around Johnson's film being a new age whodunit masterwork feel slightly over the top, much like Miles Bron's no expenses sparred island retreat.

3 1/2 napkins out of 5.

Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)