The original Knives Out was surprising, smart and stylish (my review). This sequel only has one of those adjectives going for it (read on to see which one). Daniel Craig returns as the extremely Southern gentlemen detective (with a surprise roommate cameo). This case brings him to an isolated island owned by a tech billionaire (Edward Norton), who has assembled a group of mildly eccentric friends for a murder mystery game. Unlike the previous film, the oddball characters aren’t especially fun or even odd. Writer/director Rian Johnson has loaded this script with too much dialogue…it’s an hour before anyone dies. Even afterward, there’s more focus on justification for the crime , instead of action or even interaction. Since the locale is new, it’s provides some opportunities for stylish design. Otherwise, this sequel is too talky, rather slow and lacks many surprises. (Look for the late Angela Lansbury & Stephen Sondheim in a brief Zoom sequence.) 
(2.5 / 5)
