"Glass Onion" and "Matilda"

Netflix had its ups and downs in 2022, but over the holidays it also had two of the most entertaining films I saw all year.

"Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" carries over the sleuth character, Benoit Blanc, from Rian Johnson's previous whodunnit, and thankfully nobody else.  The tone of this outing is different, leaning more heavily on the comedy, and taking aim at new wealth instead of old wealth.  And instead of a house full of secrets, this time the setting is a Greek island and the luxury compound of tech mogul Miles Bron (Edward Norton).  He's invited several old friends to his island for the weekend to play a mystery murder game, including a governor (Kathryn Hahn), a scientist (Leslie Odom Jr.), a fashion designer (Kate Hudson), a social media influencer (Dave Bautista), a woman he had a falling out with (Janelle Monáe), and Benoit Blanc.

This mystery isn't as rigorously constructed as the first, but it makes up for it with sly humor and some fortuitous timing.  Though the script was written over a year ago, and the story takes place during the early days of the COVID pandemic, it's impossible to look at Miles Bron and not see him as a stand-in for Elon Musk - a narcissistic slimeball with an obscene amount of money and no taste to speak of.  Likewise, it's pretty easy to draw lines between some of the other characters and various real-life ne'er-do-wells.  And it is so, so satisfying to watch them get some of the comeuppance that they'd never get in real life.  While the mystery is pretty much dispensed with by the end of the second act, the finale is this wonderfully satisfying revenge set piece that had me cackling with glee as it played out.  

Similar to the first "Knives Out," Rian Johnson manages to throw shade and snark at the elites while avoiding a political bent.  He's also much sillier this time out, which I appreciate.  There are a couple of outright cartoonish running gags, a ton of celebrity name-dropping, and some liberties taken with the sound design.  However, Johnson's gotten so confident in his filmmaking that it's genuinely fun to follow his narrative hairpin turns, and to pick out all the little clues and references stuffed into the background (The "Magnolia" nod is priceless).  The misdirection is genuinely clever and well-considered.  The actors are also excellent - Janelle Monáe is the clear standout of this group, though Kate Hudson as the dim bulb fashionista gets some of the best lines.  This may not be Rian Johnson's best film, but it's the one I've enjoyed the most consistently to date.

Onward to "Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical," a ridiculously overlong title for the new film adaptation of the "Matilda" stage musical.  It's the first major project from Netflix's deal for new Roald Dahl media, and it's a keeper.  As a fan of the book, who was rather ambivalent on the 1996 film version, and completely missed the wave of hype around the stage musical, I'm very happy with the new film.  The songs by Tim Minchin are infectious.  Dennis Kelly's additions to the story are great.  Best of all is the cast, featuring Alisha Weir as our young heroine, and a nearly unrecognizable Emma Thompson as her great enemy, the Trunchbull.  

"Matilda" has always been one of my favorite underdog stories, about the triumph of smarts and friendship over bullying and oppression.  Little Matilda is born to terrible, greedy parents (Stephen Graham, Angela Riseborough), who neglect her and despair of her book-loving ways.  When they're finally forced to send her to school, Matilda's kind teacher, Miss Honey (Lashana Lynch), quickly realizes that Matilda is a genius.  Unfortunately, the school is run by the tyrannical Miss Trunchbull, who hates children and comes up with outrageous punishments for the smallest infractions.  Freeing the school from her horrible reign becomes Matilda's top priority.  Most of the additions to the story are to help flesh out Miss Honey, who becomes our secondary heroine.

Directed by Matthew Warchus, who put together a similar crowd-pleaser in "Pride" a few years ago, "Matilda" has more restraint and subtlety than I expected from a children's film.  It holds back the spectacle except for a few really big showstoppers like the "Revolting Children" number.  Visually, there's plenty of color and whimsy, but it's never garish the way that the Danny DeVito film version occasionally was.  Part of the difference is that the new "Matilda" is a very British affair, and less beholden to Hollywood's ideas about what children's entertainment is supposed to look like.  As a result, the emotional moments and the sentimental interludes have more space to work their magic.    

Also, take note that Warchus and Kelly came over from the original stage version of "Matilda," with Minchin pitching in a new song for the ending, which suggests that more theater people really should be involved in the screen adaptations.  And there wasn't a single performer who couldn't handle the singing, or felt like they were only cast because they were a name.   This includes Emma Thompson, who I didn't realize was the Trunchbull until the credits.  "Matilda" is one of my favorite films of 2022, and my biggest complaint about it is that it's a Netflix exclusive in the US, and I never got the chance to see it on the big screen.

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