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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Bad Writing

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Re: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Bad Writing

#61

Post by browningstreet »

jccalhoun wrote: post #12

The film wasn't perfect but these complaints are not very compelling to me. The cheat of "what you thought you saw wasn't what you saw" is kind of a lazy cheat but it is very common in detective and heist films. The point about whether the sister who journaled everything wouldn't have journaled about creating the software is a good one and the conceit of the twin being able to fool the friends is also a good point bu…

When JM showed up in the island, Miles should’ve had a reaction to her presence. The cheat is worsened when the movie doesn’t ever tell us how he reacted, even after the fact. IMO it qualifies as a giant plot hole.

Re: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Bad Writing

#62

Post by k2xl »

Also disliked the movie for similar but also different reasons.

The first is the political layer on top of the film. Miles is obviously supposed to be Elon - "everyone thinks is genius but is an idiot" and the Twitch guy is supposed to be Joe Rogan who "got banned on Twitch for touting Rhino pills" (referencing the ivermectin that CNN [in which Jake Tapper has a cameo in the film] called a horse dewormer).

Kind of ruined the movie for me because it felt a bit of a collection of character hit pieces.

Another issue is the whole ending seemed poorly written. As the OP mentions it seems weird that Helen/Andi would be left alone with Miles.

Also why wouldn't Miles, with all his wealth and resources not be able to hide how the Mona Lisa was destroyed?

Re: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Bad Writing

#63

Post by dctoedt »

csours wrote: post #38

Spoilers-ish (this happens pretty early in the movie) Janelle Monae smashes open a mystery box with a hammer, which is direct commentary on JJ Abrams Mystery Box writing. This movie is very very well written. Nearly every detail is paid off.

> Janelle Monae smashes open a mystery box with a hammer

Reminded me of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_Knot

Re: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Bad Writing

#64

Post by dctoedt »

etempleton wrote: post #49

I too was disappointed with "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery." My first struggle with the movie is that it breaks the first rule of a good mystery story in that you need the audience to have enough information that they can plausibly solve the crime themselves. Glass Onion only provides information when it becomes relevant to move the plot along. You could have never known certain things, you could have never even…

I thought it was more a send-up of mysteries, in roughly the same vein as 1980's Airplane! (including the celebrity cameos).

Re: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Bad Writing

#65

Post by ghaff »

etempleton wrote: post #49

I too was disappointed with "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery." My first struggle with the movie is that it breaks the first rule of a good mystery story in that you need the audience to have enough information that they can plausibly solve the crime themselves. Glass Onion only provides information when it becomes relevant to move the plot along. You could have never known certain things, you could have never even…

That's a good description. I didn't like it as much as the original but, like you, I actually want to rewatch it now to better appreciate the whole thing.

Certainly it's not a bad movie. I'm just not sure it really hangs together at the end of the day.

Re: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Bad Writing

#66

Post by csours »

morelisp wrote: post #58
csours wrote: post #38

Spoilers-ish (this happens pretty early in the movie) Janelle Monae smashes open a mystery box with a hammer, which is direct commentary on JJ Abrams Mystery Box writing. This movie is very very well written. Nearly every detail is paid off.

When you pillory a lot of dumb people's idea of a smart person, it's not unsurprising you piss off a lot of dumb people.

I think its easy to dislike a movie that you're angry at. I really like this movie, and I'm sure that's a large part of why I was able to engage with it. Kind of a commentary on politics and society too, eh?

Re: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Bad Writing

#67

Post by matthewdgreen »

belval wrote: post #44
automatoney wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author also "absolutely loathed Star Wars: The Last Jedi" which to me feels like an overreaction to a movie.

The Last Jedi was completely disjointed from the previous movie, introduced "fuel" as a plot device that hadn't been even mentioned in the 7 previous movies, gave us the Mary Poppins Princess Leia, had a weird and heavy handed side quest in a casino planet that ultimately had no impact on the plot, killed Snoke without giving the audience some form of closure as to who he was, had BB-8 pilot an AT-ST as an ex-machina…

It also gave us hyperspace suicide weapons that could destroy any ship, and then declined to explain why this amazing technique was not a tactic we’ve ever seen before or since.

Re: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Bad Writing

#69

Post by morelisp »

browningstreet wrote: post #61
jccalhoun wrote: post #12

The film wasn't perfect but these complaints are not very compelling to me. The cheat of "what you thought you saw wasn't what you saw" is kind of a lazy cheat but it is very common in detective and heist films. The point about whether the sister who journaled everything wouldn't have journaled about creating the software is a good one and the conceit of the twin being able to fool the friends is also a good point bu…

When JM showed up in the island, Miles should’ve had a reaction to her presence. The cheat is worsened when the movie doesn’t ever tell us how he reacted, even after the fact. IMO it qualifies as a giant plot hole.

> When JM showed up in the island, Miles should’ve had a reaction to her presence.

The shot lingers on literally the same facial expression when she arrives on the island as when he first sees her again after he shoots her.

Re: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Bad Writing

#70

Post by [deleted] »

morelisp wrote: post #69
browningstreet wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When JM showed up in the island, Miles should’ve had a reaction to her presence. The cheat is worsened when the movie doesn’t ever tell us how he reacted, even after the fact. IMO it qualifies as a giant plot hole.

> When JM showed up in the island, Miles should’ve had a reaction to her presence. The shot lingers on literally the same facial expression when she arrives on the island as when he first sees her again after he shoots her.

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