I loved Knives Out so much I wanted to watch this in the cinemas the moment it came out. Unfortunately this turned out to be streaming only so it took me until now to get around to it. This is a sequel only in that it features Benoit Blanc as the investigator of a murder mystery but it keeps the same style and the large ensemble cast and that’s good enough for me. Sequels are generally not as good as the film that spawned and this is the case here as well. It’s too heavy-handed on the whole Glass Onion metaphor and the murderer’s plan is indeed really dumb even if that is the entire point. Still this is probably still the best whodunit since the first film and I enjoyed every moment of it.

A number of disparate individuals: a scientist, a state governor, a model and fashion designer, and a men’s rights influencer all receive a complicated puzzle box that is actually an invitation to a getaway on the private island of their friend, billionaire Miles Bron. Another guest is Cassandra Brand, a former business partner of Bron who was ousted as part of a lawsuit. When the day arrives, Benoit Blanc shows up as well at the dock. On the island, Bron takes Blanc aside to explain that he never invited him at all. They determine that one of the other guests must have decided to invite Blanc and Bron plays along. Bron shows off his glass onion house filled with glass sculptures and even the original Mona Lisa painting on loan from the Louvre. Blanc further learns that Bron’s company Alpha is on the verge of introducing a new hydrogen fuel that will revolutionize the energy industry despite everyone’s warning that it is unsafe. That night Bron presents a murder mystery game in which he pretends to be the victim. Blanc solves it immediately and warns Bron that he has gathered a group of people who have genuine grievances against him, tempting them to murder him for real.

Having just seen The Menu, the structural similarities are obvious and of course draws from the familiar format of the vacation mystery. The cast of characters here are more colorful and larger than life but even more so than in The Menu are shitheads deserving of a good thrashing. It’s really amusing how none of them seem to have anything in common at first but of course the real truth is that every one of them owe their success entirely to Bron. Their antics are insane and supremely entertaining from the ditzy model Birdie Jay being politically incorrect because she claims not to understand the meaning of words to the men’s rights activist streamer Duke who is completely subservient to his own mother at home. Every time I think these people are too unbelievable to be realistic, I remind myself that Donald Trump exists. Bron of course is the most outrageous character of all and is a clear parody of celebrity CEOs like Elon Musk, Elizabeth Holmes and Steve Jobs. It’s unfortunate that director and writer Rian Johnson felt compelled to deny that Musk was the direct inspiration probably because of Musk’s real power because he’s such a dead ringer for how Musk is currently behaving.

Unfortunately the actual murder mystery part of the film is lacking. I do get the point of the glass onion metaphor so it is supposed to be dumb. There are plenty of clues and hints left out in the open, often in very obvious ways, so a diligent viewer could theoretically put everything together. The primary impediment to doing is, as Blanc says, that it’s so dumb and obvious that you’d hardly believe it plus it keep throwing in a red herring to distract you. I do like that even linguistic malapropisms are a kind of clue but on the whole it’s just not a very satisfying mystery to solve. The plot as a whole is plausible enough but it feels very different from the first film which truly was a perfectly crafted puzzle. This one is really more a social commentary than a murder mystery and with the numerous cameos and jokes tries to be more fun.

The way I see it, Johnson always knew he wouldn’t be able to write a script as slickly smart as the first film. So for the sequel, he chose instead to write a deliberately dumb murder plan and emphasize the comedy and social commentary. He even lampshades this at the beginning with Bron’s ridiculous and totally impossible wooden puzzle box. I’d still rate this as a highly entertaining film but it doesn’t scratch the same itch at all.