Film Look into the Center of this Glass Onion: a Napkin
This movie... is dumb. It's not brilliant, it's just dumb. Yeah, that's a blandly reappropriated line, but it's the plainest way to put it.
Spoilers ahoy.
Glass Onion is about the CEO of a tech company, Miles Bron, who invites his rich buddies to his island for a vacation, including a misogynistic streamer, a two-faced politician, and an airheaded model, among others. One of them murders two of them: the streamer, and Bron's estranged colleague Andi Brand. Gentleman Detective Benoit Blanc and Andi's twin sister Helen secretly investigate, and deduce that the culprit can't be Miles unless he's an idiot. And turns out... Miles is such an idiot that he doesn't know how words work.
But if he's an idiot, how did he come to own a successful tech company? Well, he stole the original idea. Off of a napkin Andi wrote in a bar. This isn't a nitpick or a small detail; it's the smoking gun. Everything about this movie rests on that napkin. Andi loses her case against Miles that was based entirely on the origin of the napkin. Miles murders her when she finds the napkin and threatens to use it as proof. The napkin's discovery proves Miles is the murderer. And the napkin's destruction eliminates any legal evidence against Miles.
Even if I suspend my disbelief on this plot point, it spoils the mystery (if Miles didn't even come up with the original idea, why should I assume he's not an idiot?). And I don't suspend it, because it's so dumb. Obviously, ownership of a business isn't based on who came up with the basic idea. But more egregiously, this isn't how genius and invention work! Ideas are cheap. What matters is whether an innovator can put the work in and make their ideas succeed. The ruse played by tech charlatans like Elizabeth Holmes and Sam Bankman-Fried is not claiming credit for another's convenient, get-rich-quick napkin idea. It's convincing people that such an idea works at all. And that's the thought I keep coming back to whenever I look at that ridiculous napkin in all its Technobabble glory:
Deprived of legal solutions, Helen blows up the island complex to expose Miles as a fraud. Never mind that in real life, everyone would be baked to fry bits.
Glass Onion is just another example of feigned disruption. It acts like it mocks idiocy pretending to be genius, but it itself portrays genius as a miraculous, sensational thing that can write billion-dollar ideas on napkins and blow up buildings free of consequence or injury. It's praised for its "social commentary," but all it does is caricature controversial figures. It's just more of the same trite material expected from Hollywood stars, that which lulls viewers into accepting the same old pretty explosions, nonsensical plots, and shallow satire of every rich, powerful, culpable person other than themselves.
Film The ideal repeat-high sequel.
Rian Johnson did it somehow—he turned out a wonderful mystery film that elevates the genre in a subversive and gripping social commentary...again. What kind of illegal powers do you need to possess to deliver the high of a knockout piece of media a second time?
This time, Benoit Blanc is called to a vacation at a private party hosted by eccentric billionaire Miles Bron after receiving a puzzle box with the invitation in the mail. The party promises to have a murder mystery game, which intrigues Blanc and we see Bron's eclectic group of awful friends—a mix of corrupt actors and the types of losers who the sensible world would have dropped and the rich world can lift back up. One guest stands apart and causes a stir—the cold and resentful Andi, Bron's former business partner who was legally screwed out of her company position. Blanc is on high alert for the potential that Bron's murder mystery party is going to turn too real...but it's not Bron's murder that puts Blanc into action.
Like Knives Out, the film is an impressive exercise in topping itself with huge narrative shakeups. The first half ends with an event that's twisted every way to Sunday—first, halting the current momentum, then, bringing a reframing reveal so huge that most of the second half is taken up replaying half one with this new clarity, and then the event being changed again by the time of the climax...but it works, of course, because the surprise (which references an old mystery cliche) is still executed extremely compellingly by the script and actors. Also like Knives Out, the film has satisfying commentary and emotional closure, with things tying together in fun tidy and punchy ways. The comedy and satire are overt, dealing with the fraud behind mythologized tech-bro "geniuses" and the kinds of "cancelled" people who never really go away because they have friends with money who can support them. The film again throws its heart behind a woman of color allied with Blanc, which is fine, but it's a dynamic the third film would probably be best to avoid repeating so closely just to avoid the good intentions seeming more rote and performative. I think Janelle MonĂ¡e does great work as Blanc's focal point, the mysterious Andi, and I like how we see more of how Blanc operates as a genius who plays up the bumbling Southern fool. The solution to the mystery is also subversive in a clever way to comment on the genre. The film as a whole serves to comment upon disruptive progressive action, and demonstrates how such rhetoric can be co-opted and defanged for the capitalist status quo.
I don't know if I want to consume another mystery not written by Rian Johnson. He's found this perfect witty, exhilarating take on the genre that makes it a genuine thrill to watch, with wonderful results. Knives Out 3 can't come soon enough.
Film Wackier and funnier, but also less elegant than the first movie (edited, minor spoilers)
In a nutshell, Glass Onion is about Rian making fun of his own filmmaking style for two hours.
The 'Disruptors', as Miles Bron describe it, are those who wanted to make big changes, to disrupt the status quo, to destroy conventions and push boundaries even if people don't want them to, just because they can. As it happens, this is exactly how Rian Johnson operates, and this is reflected right in the narrative itself.
Instead of having a straightforward narrative like the first film, Glass Onion has two 'halves' telling the same story. The first half is straightforward setting up for the mysteries and seemingly complex relations the characters have. Then the second half is basically retracing the first half in an entirely new context, giving us new information and important clues/motivations that have eluded us the first time.
This is a double-edged sword, though. On one hand, it feels like Rian 'cheated' his viewers with this narrative style: even viewers who can keep track of everything in the first half and all the potential clues and subtle character actions, it won't really all make sense until they've seen the second half where much more important information is revealed. On the other hand, Rian is just that talented at making a really entertaining narrative that we don't really notice this until everything falls into places.
This narrative choice in Glass Onion breaks conventional 'whodunnit' storytelling by intentionally obscuring important information from viewers for the majority of the movie (as opposed in 'Knives Out' where nothing is withheld and sharp-eyed viewers can figure everything out if they pay attention) does give a fresh new take on the genre, but it also cheats its audience out somewhat by essentially limiting what they know to what the movie has given them at that point, until everything comes to a sudden climax and Blanc unravels the mysteries and facts that we just learned barely 10 minutes ago.
As for other aspects, I praise how Rian made all the characters more active in the story this time. As opposed to Knives Out characters where only a few of them do have major roles in the story, everyone in Glass Onion feels more involved in the plot going on. That being said, there's still the same common flaw that most whodunnit stories share: you have many characters who can all be potential suspects, but you can easily cut down the majority of them as actual culprits to only about 1-2 characters that the plot really gives focus to, and Glass Onion is no exception.
All in all, Rian Johnson uses his mastery of telling an entertaining narrative and fun twists and turns to hide the fact that the case itself as a whodunnit story is rather simple (which admittedly is the entire point) and breaks conventional rules of the genre simply because he could. How much you'll love this movie depends on how impressed you are with the story and the characters, less so with its quality as a whodunnit story.
Film A Fun, Well Written Mystery (Spoiler Free)
I had the chance to see Glass Onion during the limited theater release, and let me tell you, I walked away with a lot of awesome things to talk to my boyfriend about. Here are some reasons why I loved the movie, without spoiling any of the plot:
First off, it's just fun. It's an entertaining, funny, well produced movie with a really cool setting and a lot of awesome visuals. While the original Knives Out wasn't as willing to dip into the comedy, this movie has a lot of hilarious moments that didn't actually distract from the mystery itself.
As for that mystery, it's very well written, with a lot of little moments that come back in some big ways. It's just interesting, and very well laid out in my opinion.
The characters were great. All of them had more time than the Thrombeys, and thus we got to really understand them all as people, good and bad, right and wrong. Each of them had a realistic motive and some chances to shine, and one of them in particular proved to be surprisingly deep and sympathetic despite how the movie originally led you to see them. Benoit was also awesome again, this time as a bit of a fish out of water while also really showing off his intelligence and talent.
All in all, I can't find anything bad to say about this movie. It lived up to all of my expectations and more, and if you enjoy fun mystery movies, you'll probably love Glass Onion.
Film Past the Infraction Point (spoilers)
Like many frustrated Silicon Valley billionaires, I infrequentively find myself being demonized in the press, simply for not fitting into the roll that I have been assigned too by societal pressure. This is why I would like to take un memento to pay tribute to Glass Onion, a phenomenal work of artistry that dares to ask the uncomforting question; maybe billionaires deserve sympathy too.
Rian Johnson, hot off the roaring success of his Star Wars films, delivers on this promise with his outstanding portrayal of a billionaire who remains symptomatic to the audience throughout. Miles Bron is clearly based on many modern, misunderstood genii; Elon Musk, Elizabeth Holmes, that guy with the submarine that... you know - all of them, geniuses who were also demonitized in the press and pilloried by Joe Public, all for the crime of being ambitious, ambivalent, ambiguous and amphibious. As someone who is often the subject of disrespect by my peers, despite owning no less than seven NFTs, I can reflate to this very strongly.
Glass Onion takes a sledhammer to this premisconception with main character, Miles Bron; a humble and unfettered genius who throws a delightful murder-mystery party for his diverts circle of friends, including fellow genius (but not as genius) policeman Benoit Blanc, a character who is so fun to watch that I wish he had been featured in a movie before this one. Unlike many other negative (and frankly, cliched) portrayals of the ultra-rich, Glass Onion regulatively highlights that Miles earned his wealth through nothing but hard work and determination, not by backstabbing, or stealing ideas, or ignoring safety regulations, or because his parents owned an emerald mine; no, Miles is the predefinite example of a self-made man, and Glass Ceiling never once implies that this makes him any less worthy of your symmetry, or admiration. It certainly doesn't hurt that he's played by Edward Norton, oh my! He's introduced playing Bluebird on an electric guitar, and it's all uphill from there.
Miles' murder-mystery party - despite stumping everyone present with its ingenuity - is quickly interrupted when one of his party-guests dies; as a result of an attempt on Miles' life, no less! Not only does this symbolicize how Miles' good fortune - through no fault of his own! - attracts constant envy from his inner circle, but it draws intention to the justifiable lack of trust that Miles is forced to have for others! However, this just helps the audience to root even harder for him against his ungraceful friends, especially Andi and her alter-ego Helen, who remain upset with him even though he was the co-founder of the company that made her/they famous!
If I was forcified to pick a single character flaw in the film, it would be one outside of it's control; due to receiving some bad news about some of my cryptocurrency investments (which have since recovered... more or less) then I unfortunately had to omit the last half an hour of the film, but as a successful, experienced enterpreneur, I am extremely confident that my initial assessment of the characters is spot-on and there are no further relevations that would affect this. I wouldn't be a very good businessman if my estimated intonations were wrong, after all.
In contusion, I would give Glass Cannon eleven and a half non-fungible thumbs-up out of sixteen. Thank you, Ryan Johnson, for finally portraying billionaires as they really are; likeable, heroism, and extremely intelligent.