Glass

You can get a sequel to one film. Glass is a sequel to two different movies that span several decades and different production companies. Split (2016) and Unbreakable (2000).

David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is the vigilante who plans to catch Kevin Crumb (James McAvoy) the man with multiple personalities including the Beast, who has abducted four cheerleaders. After a showdown both get captured and sent to Raven Hill Memorial hospital which has been adapted to keep them both locked in their rooms.

Also inside the hospital is Mr Glass (Samuel L Jackson) almost comatose filled with drugs and confined to his wheelchair because of his brittle bones. The man who killed hundreds to prove a theory that some people had extraordinary powers. The kind of powers you find in comic books.

Dr Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) has been sent in to show these three people that they are normal people, their abnormal frontal lobes making them think they have superpowers.

M. Night Shyamalan after his initial success with movies like The Sixth Sense and later flops such as The Happening. He went back to basics and re-invented himself through low budget independent horror/thrillers. It culminated in the critically acclaimed Split.

In Glass, Shyamalan pits Dunn against the Beast but it is also a tease. The film is called Glass. Watching and waiting is Elijah Price/Mr Glass. He has woven a web, his body is weak but his mind is sharp. That is his superpower. His past actions has led to the present and he envisages a comic strip superbattle.

Shyamalan has made the movie he wanted to make. The pace is deliberate, it alludes to comic book conventions but without taking the Marvel Films route. I thought it was wonderful even if the movie had faults.

I can describe Glass as an entertaining experience, but not solid enough to be an appropriate closure of the Unbreakable-Split-Glass trilogy.

While I can see what Mr Shyamalan wanted to do, I don't think he managed to deliver with the characters and the plot the necessary complexity to answer all the questions the audience raised in the previous two movies. Many things have been left unanswered especially about Kevin, while David Dunn is just a shadow that doesn't do much in the movie.

The real star in this movie is supposed to be Mr Glass, but not much about his past is told, either. Everything is absurdly summarized in a way that, in the end, we don't really know - or care - about who Mr Glass or Kevin were. There isn't enough character development or closure going on here.

Sarah Paulson's talent was wasted on a character who could be played by anyone. She is a brilliant actress but the character was poorly written and brings nothing new or dramatically useful to the plot.

Cinematography is fine just as the pacing of the movie. Like I said, it is entertaining, definitely - and perhaps it will please the audiences who are used to the almost shallow plots of superhero movies. But if you were expecting a more deep and challenging story about humans with supernatural powers, you will be disappointed.

In the end, Mr Shyamalan couldn't make a superhero movie, and couldn't make a deep, mind-bending metaphysical movie either. He merely brushed over both worlds, but didn't dive deeply into either of them. It is a pity that a plot that had potential and that showed up to be brilliant in "Split" had such an underwhelming and unremarkable closure.

Let me start by saying the critics are just flat out WRONG with this one. And this is coming from a guy who has only enjoyed about half of this guys movies. If you are going in their to watch a superhero movie check yourself at the door. This is a dark twisted psychological horror with a chaotic like thread that reminds you of noir films of the past. It's like a Picasso painting in movie form. The ending is divisive and risky, which I love! It's not for everybody, but I think that's why I loved this movie.

Ninteen years ago M. Night Shyamalan made a film called 75 million dollar film Unbreakable when he was hot off the heels of a world wide sensation with The Sixth Sense. The film film did okay money wise (248 million) and with critics but did not generate the excitement of his prior hit but has since garnered a very strong following despite talk of it becoming a trilogy having long gone silent. Fast forward to 2016, Shyamalan after a string of high profile, higher budget flops is now making smaller budget films and gets himself a big hit with the 9 million dollar film Split that goes on to make over 278 million. Not only that, the final post climax scene ties it to the Unbreakable universe, setting up the highly anticipated Glass that will serve to cap the trilogy as a sequel to both Unbreakable and Split.

I am happy to report that despite the massive success of Split that Glass is a low budget film made for just 20 million dollars with a great deal of that presumably going to the larger cast. This film brings together characters from Unbreakable (Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Spencer Treat Clark and others) and Split (James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy) with a bevy of new characters. The feeling of comic book mythology that was expertly woven into Unbreakable is back here in spades and this definitely feels more the tone of that film. I won't go into specifics but the story elements of the first half hour feels what someone would typically make as the entire third film in this trilogy but Shyamalan wisely goes into some different territory and we get some great scenes with the characters in a slower paced middle section of the film. Unfortunately not every character really gets to shine here as is common with many team up films each person only has a limited time which makes this film unlike both prior entries really only viewing for people who have seen the others, definitely not a stand alone tale.

They make the most of the limited budget and as is often the case with good film makers, it makes them more creative. It is a nice looking film and well made but I think the abundance of POV shots could have been tempered back a a little. The performances from the many characters were all great but as expected James McAvoy steals the show taking on his role from Split again as the man with 23 different personalities (of which he plays 20 here). There were a few things along the way that seemed like lazy or silly scripting that did get a new light once the final twist was revealed. Speaking of twists, there is more than one and he may have overdone it. I imagine the ending will not be for everyone but I enjoyed the film from start to finish, there was a possibility for a while that it would have made the Kill Bill Vol.2 error of promising a big showdown and not delivering but the route they went in the end worked much better. In the end I am happy with this film despite preferring the previous two entries and it has become quite the trilogy.. one that I will revisit.

So just re watched the trilogy in a row. Mainly cause there is total toffee nowadays. Not sure why glass has the lowest of the low ratings in the three. Unbreakable was great. But 12 years before split. Split was a good movie and even better when you watch it soon after the first film. Glass however seems to get a bad rap. Not sure if all the sofa directors and writers out there wanted it to be the way they imagined while they was working in Asda stocking shelves or not. But get a grip. JM performance in both editions is fantastic but in glass it's stepped up to another level. Maybe the time to wait (like loads of things now) is way too long. But after doing the trio in a row you will definitely get a better appreciation of them all. Shame MNS ain't turnt out anything great since.