Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

Brilliant!
My first film of 2023, which has started with a bang! I adore the original film from 2019 so was expecting big things from this sequel and I'm glad to note that it didn't disappoint - it's a cracker. I did, admittedly, predict the general gist of what was going to happen, though (in this case, minor) predictability doesn't always equel badness - like here, I was thoroughly entertained no matter what.
The cast from the first film are better, though those that star in this 2022 release are excellent. Daniel Craig is, of course, superb as Benoit Blanc once again, every single moment with him is terrific. Janelle Monáe also gives a fantastic performance, I predominantly know of her from music but with this, and 'Hidden Figures', she can certainly act too.
Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista and Edward Norton are the best of the others, though even the likes of Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr. and Madelyn Cline are good value as well. Like its predecessor, it's very astutely cast.
The film is put together in high quality fashion, Rian Johnson & Co. did a great job - particularly with the framing of certain shots, as well as the music which is real neat. As you'd expect for a film of this sort, there are some nice little details spread across the well utilised run time. Like 'Knives Out', I know I'll be revisiting 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery' when possible.
It sounds like Johnson and Craig are up for making more of these, and to that I say bring it on!

What's great about this is that within the first minute or so of meeting every cast member you are told who they are and what their motivation is...
... so it leaves out the tedious who done it guess work of murder mysteries.
And you are told almost from the start who the killer is and what his motivation is..
... so you don't have the tedious guess work there either.
But to keep you on your toes scenes are conveniently rewritten several ways to make it seem like a mystery even though the mystery aspect has been conveniently taken out for today's low IQ audiences.
The viewer conveniently doesn't have to uncover anything, nor try to determine any motivation, and all the clues are obvious and handed to you by virtue of Bond stumbling onto them in a way that leaves the viewer in no doubt despite already knowing who the killer is and what his motivation was.
But it's Johnson so people can pretend to be intelligent by claiming that he diverted expectations of a murder mystery by taking all the thought and mystery out of it and leaving you with the obvious that has been obviously stated for today's modern audience.
But, it does hit all the political check boxes... the ones that literally every other title hits per mandate of cancel culture... So the faux intellectuals can further proclaim how smart and original it is while having it nicely fit into the same box as everything else.