Benoit Blanc, the most famous detective of the world, returned to the screen in his second adventure, this time in a Netflix movie that debuted for the next week in theaters. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will arrive on Netflix around Christmas, but started the film on the big screen. The sequel to the excellent Knives Out continued the entertaining story telling with an (almost) all-new cast.

Daniel Craig returned, of course, as Benoit Blanc, the southern drawl spouting brilliant detective, along with a great ensemble that included Ed Norton, Dave Bautista, Janelle Monáe, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr, Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, and Noah Segan.

Benoit Blanc found himself invited to a private island by wealthy businessman Miles Bron (Ed Norton) for a weekend murder mystery he was hosting for several of his personal friends. However, when the murder becomes no longer fictional, Benoit Blanc joined in on the case, trying to determine which members of the guest list were a murderer.

As it was the last time, the writing of the film is excellent, with Benoit being provided some of the best lines. The film does a solid job of introducing the large cast right off the bat, providing the details on these characters. You know who these people are immediately and the film does the heavy lifting to make that so.

This film was funnier than I remember the original one being. This was more outright funny, while the original had humor, but I do not think back on it as an overtly funny film. There is more humor here, and most of it worked well.

The movie, once again, played with the POV of the story, giving a couple of different perspectives on the same events, showing the audience what had actually happened. One thing that I wished the movie would do more is allow the audience a chance to “play along” with the mystery. They do not let you be the detective. There is no way to solve the case before the movie wants you to.

Daniel Craig is great as the remarkably intelligent and observant Benoit Blanc. When he played off the other enigmatic characters from the ensemble, Craig really shined.

The film took place right smack dab in the middle of the Covid pandemic in 2020 and they make references to the masks and to social distancing.

I was enjoying the mystery, seeing how things fit together after initially being unsure what was going on. I will have to say that the third act, especially right at the end of the third act was considerably weaker than the rest of the film. While it did not spoil the film for me, it did feel too silly, reducing the stakes of the movie downward.

And the movie ended with the credits being run while playing The Beatles’ Glass Onion, which I haven’t heard in quite a long time. That was a special treat.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery may not have been as outstanding as the original and it did have an ending that did not seem to match up with the quality prior to it, but I had a lot of fun with the film and I would be excited to see continuing adventures of Benoit Blanc.

4.25 stars