Knives Out 2 reviews say Glass Onion is as good as the original with bigger twists and surprise cameos

Rian Johnson’s hugely anticipated Knives Out sequel has had its premiere at Toronto International Film Festival – and the early reviews are mostly positive. Glass Onion sees Benoit Blanc (played by Daniel Craig) return for a new case following his success with the Thrombey family.

This time around, he’s heading to a private Greek island where tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) has invited some friends for a getaway. However, when someone turns up dead, Blanc is put on the hunt for the killer. Alongside Craig and Norton, the sequel features the all-star ensemble cast of Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista.

Critics have been praising Benoit Blanc’s return to the big screen as just as funny and inspired as the first movie, referencing some great twists and cameos. Performance-wise, most reviewers loved Craig’s comedic performance but pointed out that Monáe is a stand-out among the new cast. 

However, not all the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive with the main criticism seemingly being that the movie is trying to do too much at once, and cram too much in. We’ve compiled some of the early spoiler-free reviews of the sequel to give you an idea of the main talking points.

The Hollywood Reporter – John Defore

"This picture offers more action, more delicious comeuppances, more daring design and a few genuinely surprising cameos just for good measure. Yet it doesn’t suffer from the usual 'give ’em the same thing, but more of it' bloat common in sequels to surprise hits. Its ensemble is more varied than Knives‘, and its critique of the clueless rich more relevant to our age."

The Guardian – 3/5 – Benjamin Lee

"Johnson’s more extravagant and often indulgent sequel will likely find those who prefer it to the original, it’s so stuffed with so much that it’ll surely prove more fun to those who appreciate getting more bang for their buck. It’s hard not to have fun when Johnson pulls the strings, I just wish he’d not pulled quite so many and quite so hard."

Variety – Owen Gleiberman

"Is Glass Onion a better movie than the first Knives Out? Not necessarily. But it’s a bigger, showier, even more elaborately multi-faceted shell-game mystery. Craig has figured out how to let his wry performance sneak up on you all over again, and the suspects hover in a tasty zone between toxic and sympathetic. Yet for a movie this chock-full of surprises, there’s something about seeing the killer revealed that feels, perhaps, a touch less gratifying than before."

Deadline – Damon Wise

"This leaves two standouts: Craig, now free of Bond, has finally nailed comedy, revealing previously untapped depths (a scene in which the deadpan Blanc hides behind and between a bronze statue’s buttocks is a mini-masterpiece of silent comedy). But the Ana de Armas award for the second iteration of Knives Out goes to the simply fantastic Monáe who puts in one of the best and most intuitively perfect performances of 2022."

Indie Wire – A- – Kate Erbland

"Fans of the first Knives Out will find plenty of the same elements to love, though Johnson has studiously worked to ensure that Glass Onion stands alone, both because of its self-contained story and the filmmaker’s resistance to repeating his old tricks."

The Wrap – Martin Tsai

"Overall, Glass Onion is a serviceable capitalization on the success of Knives Out. There’s nothing about it that strikes as particularly memorable or necessary, and the hodgepodge of plot points and casting choices seem emblematic of filmmaking by algorithm. Those without Netflix subscriptions aren’t necessarily missing out."

BBC – 3/5 – Caryn James

"Daniel Craig is in it. To say too much more about Rian Johnson's Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery would be to spoil this hugely entertaining follow-up to 2019's Knives Out. Where the original depended on the oddball family members-turned-murder suspects being investigated by Benoit Blanc, Craig's hilariously over-the-top world-famous detective, Glass Onion relies on the plot's secrets, lies, misunderstandings and mistaken identities."

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is released on Netflix on December 23, 2022. Check out our guide to the best Netflix movies you can stream right now.