Streaming: Crime comedy with holiday flair: Daniel Craig in "Glass Onion"

The crime comedy "Knives Out" starring former James Bond actor Daniel Craig was a surprise hit in 2019.

Streaming: Crime comedy with holiday flair: Daniel Craig in "Glass Onion"

The crime comedy "Knives Out" starring former James Bond actor Daniel Craig was a surprise hit in 2019. So it was only a matter of time before a sequel hits the cinemas. However, "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mistery" was only shown briefly on the big screen, because rights holder Netflix is ​​known to see its target group in front of the television. From Friday (December 23) the star-studded whodunnit by author and director Rian Johnson can be seen on the streaming service.

"During the shooting (of the first film) we talked about it nervously and said: If that works, maybe we should shoot another one," says Craig in an interview with the German Press Agency in London and laughs. "We thought we did something funny, but who knows? Just because we think it's funny doesn't mean it's actually funny." But "Knives Out" was so well received by critics and audiences that streaming giant Netflix secured the rights for two sequels.

In "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" Craig plays the odd detective Benoit Blanc with the weird southern accent for the second time and with visible pleasure. This time, the audience also learns something about his private life. Blanc lives namely in a relationship with a man. Who is playing their partner? This is one of several amusing cameo appearances in the film. "Who wouldn't want to live with him?" jokes Craig of the well-known star.

Murder on a private island

First, Blanc is bored during the pandemic. In the bathtub, the investigator chats with friends via zoom, including the "murder is her hobby" icon Angela Lansbury in her last role - as herself. Blanc then receives an invitation from billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton). During a weekend on his decadent private island in Greece, he is supposed to solve a fictional murder case.

Bron invited his old clique over. Ex-model Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson), who arrives with her PR consultant, Internet star Duke (Dave Bautista) with his young girlfriend, politician Claire (Kathryn Hahn) and scientist Lionel (Leslie Odom Jr.) have long since drifted apart . Andi Brand (pop star Janelle Monáe), who has a score to settle with Bron, also makes a surprise appearance.

Instead of the fictional murder, there is a real death. But was the victim really the target? Benoit Blanc tries to bring light into the darkness. The investigator from the southern states - Craig has a funny, exaggerated accent in the original English version - realizes that almost everyone has a proverbial skeleton in the closet - and therefore everyone on the island is a suspect.

Scenery with holiday flair

As with the predecessor "Knives Out", crime fan Rian Johnson has shot "Glass Onion", a whodunnit in the style of old Agatha Christie films. Due to the beautiful scenery and the pleasantly sunny holiday atmosphere on the island, memories of Guy Hamilton's "Evil Under the Sun" (1982) occasionally come to mind, in which Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot was looking for a murderer on Mallorca.

Johnson's film is peppered with ingenious dialogue, little gags, allusions, Easter eggs, cameos and details that you only notice when you watch it repeatedly. "Hopefully people will watch it a second time," says Craig. "And then you start to understand things that I do at the beginning of the film. It's not obvious at first and maybe it's kind of unsettling, but there's a plan behind it." The thriller gains from this, even if you already know the solution.

Craig clearly enjoys the character of Blanc

The playfulness of the colorful ensemble is palpable. "We're probably going to see a lot of out-takes from the film at some point," Craig says. "Sometimes it was difficult not to laugh." The Briton, who is apparently happy that his time as James Bond is over, clearly enjoys the character of Blanc. It's delicious to watch how the extravagantly dressed detective seems to be overwhelmed in some interpersonal situations and has some clumsy moments while analyzing and astutely combining his surroundings.

Rian Johnsons, director of the controversial "Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi", staged "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" faster and more colorful than its predecessor. Despite the running time of more than two hours, the crime sequel is very entertaining and is great fun, not least thanks to Daniel Craig and his co-stars. In addition, the wonderfully old-fashioned film fun on the sofa on cold winter evenings creates a summer feeling.

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