Glass Onion is a lighter, quirkier whodunnit sequel to 2019's Knives Out, featuring the continuing adventures of Daniel Craig's gentleman sleuth Benoit Blanc.

This sequel from creator Rian Johnson leans more into comedy, with its glamorous cast hamming it up in a stylized almost sci-fi setting, thus swapping for the dramatic weight and wit of its predecessor. There are lots of laughs but compared to Knives Out, you feel less engaged in figuring out who did it and idly wait for Daniel Craig to reveal it.

Daniel Craig is relishing the Benoit Blanc part, decked out in flamboyant clothes and delivering crazy lines under an addictive Southern accent. It's a campier performance this time and had me missing Craig's low-key deadpan performance in Knives Out.

Janelle Monáe stands out as the emotional anchor and grounds the story. In her scenes, it feels like someone has actually died and adds more stakes to figuring out who did it. Through not fault of her own, she's outnumbered by all the zaniness.

Glass Onion's mystery has less red herrings to misdirect the audience. There are disappointingly two characters shown on the poster who aren't actual suspects in the mystery. I actually guessed who it was and I never figure out who the killer is.

Glass Onion makes for a perfect holiday viewing with the family, but is ultimately a throwaway one-time experience. On the other hand, Knives Out continues to intrigue and warrants future viewings. With Glass Onion, I don't feel it needs to be rewatched.

I still enjoyed Glass Onion, but more in the vein of laughing at a silly comedy than being engaged into the intricacies of a murder mystery.

As a murder mystery fan, I'm really grateful for Rian Johnson's Knives Out series. There was no active detective film series when I was growing up and I was actively watching classic Hercule Poirot movies, which are all locked in the Agatha Christie's novels. I love that the Knives Out mysteries are all original and I eagerly wait for the next one.