So let me start by saying that I really enjoyed watching this movie until that ending happened. The movie is 2 hours and 20 minutes and not one minute of it is boring, so it's enjoyable - nearly - through and through.
The acting is decent but there's not really much given to the actors to work with, unlike the first movie. The music is good too and it's a good-looking movie visually, though the cinematography, editing, and direction lack in my opinion, and don't really shine and aren't that memorable.
The direction is ok, but the writing and the lack of editing the way the first movie had, make this movie, at least to me, feel like it was one of those sequels to a lucky successful original movie made by a good and experienced director that the studio orders and gives it to a lesser and worse director.
And this might seem like a dumb complaint, but it affects the experience of watching the movie anyway; I did not like the bigger aspect ratio and the color grading at all. It makes me feel like I'm watching an episode of a tv show or a tv movie or a reality show, especially the fact that they're on a private island. The black bars at the top and bottom of movies with the aspect ratio of 1920x800 make every "video" feel more cinematic and make you feel like you're watching a movie. It's standard in every video game that you see the aspect ratio change when they cut or transition to a cutscene and the black bars appear.
Now I don't have a problem with IMAX movies and of course, they're cool-looking and have better quality, though I'm not sure if this was filmed on IMAX which I highly doubt. But IMAX is only used in some parts of movies like Mission Impossible and Top Gun Maverick's huge action scenes. But I don't really care for a whole movie like that. Though it obviously works in tv shows and some other movies, it didn't really work for this movie for me at least, and I would've preferred the standard aspect ratio.
The other thing is the color grading which if I recall correctly, the first movie had a warmer and more saturated color grading that was perfect for that movie and also made it more cinematic. But this movie has a cooler (colder) color grading and also makes it look less like high production cinematic movie and more like an episode of a tv show.
There just wasn't anything significant or remarkable about the editing, cinematography, and direction that would make me think it was made by an experienced and skilled director, let alone the same guy who wrote and made Knives Out.
Now I know that all of this was intentional and Rian Johnson said in the YouTube interview that he wanted these sequels to be completely different from the first one and each other in all aspects, different story, completely different actors and characters (save for 007 of course), and a different tone and feel. But after watching this movie I don't think that was a good thing if it meant that it's gonna be inferior in every aspect compared to the first movie. It's a good thing that he wants to do different movies with a different tone and feel and look for the sequels and not do the same thing over and over, but unfortunately, I would've preferred if this movie was more like the first one or at least on the same level.
So technical and visual stuff aside, the script was obviously, as most reviews have already said, nowhere near as good as Knives Out's. I think Rian had all this time and money on his hand and he should've at least consulted other writers and worked more on the script, especially on the ending.
The ending just seems weird, childish, and not a satisfying conclusion at all, if you can even call it a conclusion. I kept waiting for something clever to happen with the Mona Lisa, but the exact opposite of clever happens with it just to have the protagonist recite a line that was said earlier so everything can come together and have a payoff and a gotcha moment with the villain. Literally a "bro think he Walter White💀" meme happens as the climax of the movie and you know what I'm talking about if you've watched the movie. There's just really no payoff to the whole "whodunnit" aspect of the story and the ending immediately made the movie so forgettable that if someone mentions Knives Out, my mind won't even go to this sequel and I'm gonna forget it in a couple of days.
The movie obviously has a lot of setups and payoffs and the second act's flashbacks connect all the loose ends, but honestly, they're not really that interesting (they are at the time you're watching them) because the story and the characters and the writing are not that interesting and certainly not as interesting or good as Knives Out's.
There are some cringey lines and jokes here and there too and many pop culture references, cringey ones, that make you go, "yup, this is a modern movie alright".
The script also feels like it was written by someone who feels they're really clever, but ultimately, they're really not and the script isn't that interesting. So I understand why people would give this movie a 5 or even a 4 especially when you expected something at least on the same level as Knives Out, but I'll give it a 6 since I enjoyed most of it and it's honestly not really as bad the negative reviews might make it out to be, but it's definitely not as good as all the 10s, 9s, and the 8s reviews say it is.
So in short, this is unfortunately another Netflix movie that you already know it's not gonna be good when you see the red logo on the poster. Lackluster writing, unremarkable editing, and direction, uninteresting story and characters, could've had a better color grading and aspect ratio, Benoit doesn't do much especially in the end, the story and the twists and turns, like Benoit said it himself in the movie, aren't as complex and satisfying as Knives Out's, the ending not satisfying and is baffling, weird, and subpar instead.
I just hope Rian Johnson works more on the script of the next sequel and also gets another good writer to help him with it, because these movies are whodunnits and are more about the writing and the dialogue, and this just wasn't it.
I am also noticing a pattern with the twists of these movies about who actually did it and I hope it's not the same with the third movie because I already can guess who the actual murderer of the third one is before they even announce the cast.
The acting is decent but there's not really much given to the actors to work with, unlike the first movie. The music is good too and it's a good-looking movie visually, though the cinematography, editing, and direction lack in my opinion, and don't really shine and aren't that memorable.
The direction is ok, but the writing and the lack of editing the way the first movie had, make this movie, at least to me, feel like it was one of those sequels to a lucky successful original movie made by a good and experienced director that the studio orders and gives it to a lesser and worse director.
And this might seem like a dumb complaint, but it affects the experience of watching the movie anyway; I did not like the bigger aspect ratio and the color grading at all. It makes me feel like I'm watching an episode of a tv show or a tv movie or a reality show, especially the fact that they're on a private island. The black bars at the top and bottom of movies with the aspect ratio of 1920x800 make every "video" feel more cinematic and make you feel like you're watching a movie. It's standard in every video game that you see the aspect ratio change when they cut or transition to a cutscene and the black bars appear.
Now I don't have a problem with IMAX movies and of course, they're cool-looking and have better quality, though I'm not sure if this was filmed on IMAX which I highly doubt. But IMAX is only used in some parts of movies like Mission Impossible and Top Gun Maverick's huge action scenes. But I don't really care for a whole movie like that. Though it obviously works in tv shows and some other movies, it didn't really work for this movie for me at least, and I would've preferred the standard aspect ratio.
The other thing is the color grading which if I recall correctly, the first movie had a warmer and more saturated color grading that was perfect for that movie and also made it more cinematic. But this movie has a cooler (colder) color grading and also makes it look less like high production cinematic movie and more like an episode of a tv show.
There just wasn't anything significant or remarkable about the editing, cinematography, and direction that would make me think it was made by an experienced and skilled director, let alone the same guy who wrote and made Knives Out.
Now I know that all of this was intentional and Rian Johnson said in the YouTube interview that he wanted these sequels to be completely different from the first one and each other in all aspects, different story, completely different actors and characters (save for 007 of course), and a different tone and feel. But after watching this movie I don't think that was a good thing if it meant that it's gonna be inferior in every aspect compared to the first movie. It's a good thing that he wants to do different movies with a different tone and feel and look for the sequels and not do the same thing over and over, but unfortunately, I would've preferred if this movie was more like the first one or at least on the same level.
So technical and visual stuff aside, the script was obviously, as most reviews have already said, nowhere near as good as Knives Out's. I think Rian had all this time and money on his hand and he should've at least consulted other writers and worked more on the script, especially on the ending.
The ending just seems weird, childish, and not a satisfying conclusion at all, if you can even call it a conclusion. I kept waiting for something clever to happen with the Mona Lisa, but the exact opposite of clever happens with it just to have the protagonist recite a line that was said earlier so everything can come together and have a payoff and a gotcha moment with the villain. Literally a "bro think he Walter White💀" meme happens as the climax of the movie and you know what I'm talking about if you've watched the movie. There's just really no payoff to the whole "whodunnit" aspect of the story and the ending immediately made the movie so forgettable that if someone mentions Knives Out, my mind won't even go to this sequel and I'm gonna forget it in a couple of days.
The movie obviously has a lot of setups and payoffs and the second act's flashbacks connect all the loose ends, but honestly, they're not really that interesting (they are at the time you're watching them) because the story and the characters and the writing are not that interesting and certainly not as interesting or good as Knives Out's.
There are some cringey lines and jokes here and there too and many pop culture references, cringey ones, that make you go, "yup, this is a modern movie alright".
The script also feels like it was written by someone who feels they're really clever, but ultimately, they're really not and the script isn't that interesting. So I understand why people would give this movie a 5 or even a 4 especially when you expected something at least on the same level as Knives Out, but I'll give it a 6 since I enjoyed most of it and it's honestly not really as bad the negative reviews might make it out to be, but it's definitely not as good as all the 10s, 9s, and the 8s reviews say it is.
So in short, this is unfortunately another Netflix movie that you already know it's not gonna be good when you see the red logo on the poster. Lackluster writing, unremarkable editing, and direction, uninteresting story and characters, could've had a better color grading and aspect ratio, Benoit doesn't do much especially in the end, the story and the twists and turns, like Benoit said it himself in the movie, aren't as complex and satisfying as Knives Out's, the ending not satisfying and is baffling, weird, and subpar instead.
I just hope Rian Johnson works more on the script of the next sequel and also gets another good writer to help him with it, because these movies are whodunnits and are more about the writing and the dialogue, and this just wasn't it.
I am also noticing a pattern with the twists of these movies about who actually did it and I hope it's not the same with the third movie because I already can guess who the actual murderer of the third one is before they even announce the cast.