Flawed but fun
This was an amusing 90 minutes with a good cast, some nice gags and Colleen Camp’s insane cleavage… but it’s not a great whodunnit.
Good examples of the genre string you along with a clear thread, throw in surprises, and then astound you with a final flourish when all is revealed and you slap your forehead. This was kinda messy with too many elements and then, probably because they filmed 3 endings, the final unmasking felt arbitrary - like the writer just pulled it out his ass last minute - it didn’t feel like something solid had been constructed without us knowing the whole time.
It needed some Hitchcockian suspense. I never felt like I cared particularly for any of the characters, nor what the outcome would be. They leant into the goofy comedy and didn’t seem to care about gripping the audience with relatable characters and a well constructed plot.
Weirdly, a good example would be Scream. Obviously it’s a horror but it’s also a great comedy, you're constantly guessing who the killer is, and the final reveal feels like a rug has been pulled from under your feet. Plus, when you rewatch the film you see all sorts of clues to the hidden truth, and everything holds together in airtight fashion.
I’m glad Clue has a cult following but I couldn't help thinking it could have been much more if they’d tackled it as a whodunnit suspense thriller and then layered the comedy on top.