Glass

I have to give credit where credit is due...

M. Night Shyamalan's ability to make this "secret" superhero-esque trilogy is a brilliant endeavor in and of itself and despite how it may turn out as a whole, it's a pretty cool experiment and I hope more filmmakers get the opportunity to try something like it. 

With that said, you also have to understand that Shyamalan is no longer the filmmaker he once was. I recently traveled back to the "origin" film of this franchise, Unbreakable, and it's evident that good ol' Shyama doesn't quite have the skill level he once had, but it seems he still has all of the same confidence. 

Unbreakable was a pretty cool piece of marketing in and of itself back in the day and was a good/great film that ages well in the superhero-heavy world of today's cinema. Split, the second film in the trilogy, is essentially a stand-alone film that only connects to this trilogy by the briefest of ending cameos and was a bit of a mess outside of James McAvoy's brilliance. 

Glass, somehow, seemed to garner a decent amount of excitement without really earning it seeing as how the director has had struggles for a while and the best film in the trilogy was nearly 20 years ago. But somehow I too found myself highly interested to see if Shyamalan could pull it off and how he'd intersect two of his separate films in a meaningful way. 

The result is a film that contains the culmination of a brilliant concept, but stumbles in execution. It's entertaining in the sense that it's these characters joined together, but it's clear there wasn't really a robust plan here and there's a 60-80 minute great film encased within this 129 minute one. 

Glass starts off well enough with David Dunn (Willis) searching for the rumored "Beast" as some cheerleaders have just gone missing. He finds McAvoy, saves the girls, fights the beast, and they both get captured. From there we spend the entirety of the remainder of the film at a mental hospital which, at least to me, seems like a dumb idea for a superhero film and that's part of the reason where it feels like there wasn't actually a plan for Glass other than, "Well I made them connected! So now I have to connect them!" But Glass's biggest problem - and arguably the only one that really matters - is how much it wants to talk about itself. We're given no fewer than 5 or 6 monologues by Sarah Paulson's doctor about how these could all be "delusions of grandeur" and how superheros aren't real. Given that the general gist of these discussions were all in the trailers, it becomes repetitive and overstays its welcome really quickly and, in general, makes the middle hour of the film stretch on. Similarly, Glass doubles down on the comic-book "metaphor" that was smartly woven into Unbreakable but is beaten like a dead horse here. Almost anytime that something significant happens here, some character - often one of the side characters - takes time to state "This is just like XYZ in comic books!". It's almost as if Shyamalan didn't trust his audience to get the connection and combined with the constant need to talk about the science of possibility for superheroes, it greatly diminishes the effect the film should/could have. 

"I have one of these left on my contract right?"

When the 18 scoops of preworkout hit...

Luckily not all of Glass is as annoying as that and there's actually quite a bit to enjoy here. These characters, David Dunn, The Horde, and Mr. Glass are all unique individuals and portrayed by talented actors. Willis' Dunn gets the short end of the stick as he's the one we care about least by this point and doesn't get a whole lot to say or do. Jackson's Mr. Glass is hamming it up as the villain once he's introduced and despite the fact that it seems like he got WAY smarter between Unbreakable and now, his "master plan" is fun to watch unfold. Both pale in comparison though to McAvoy's litany of characters and once again, he's insanely fun to watch. Despite how good or bad the film is around him, McAvoy's talents are on full display here and the collection of characters is equal parts fun and disturbing with how much ease he pulls it off. As it was with Split, if there's a reason to see Glass it's to see more of him doing this and it leads me to want to beg for a comedy with all of these characters. Glass is funny enough when it wants to be, but I'm sure the shenanigans could be endless, particularly with McAvoy's talent.


I also appreciated Glass on a technical level. Sure it has FAR too many close-ups of characters talking and staring right into the camera lens, but it experiments with a lot of different angles and shots that make it unique and are different from what other filmmakers would bring to it. Not all of them work as intended, but the effort is appreciated and when they do work, it feels fresh. Much like Split, and certainly Unbreakable, Glass also has a pretty solid original score to couple its biggest scenes. It definitely adds a little more drama and emotional heft to the film so it's carrying its weight and then some. 

"Want to know how I lose my eye?"

With Shyamalan's films it's always about the twist at the end and Glass is no different, though it's a bit of a muddled mess in that regard. What I thought was the "big reveal" came across logically and was a kind of cool connection. Unfortunately Shymalan doesn't stop there and tries to continue the ending with a bunch of half-climaxes and not as well-earned reveals. He's definitely the guy known for plot twists and reveals, so I'm sure it would be weird if he didn't have one, but in Glass the several that he tries to initiate feel different variations of forced for the sake of hitting the checkbox. 

What's really weird about Glass and, in a way, this review, is that I actually quite enjoyed my time with it. I was consistently eager to see where it would go despite my annoyances and McAvoy basically carries the film on his bulked up shoulders. I think there was a better, shorter version of this film out there and probably an even better film that didn't have the whole thing occur in a psyche hospital, but those aren't what we got. Instead we got the end(?) to a nifty trilogy that is cool and worthwhile as the sum of its parts but where the latter two films have some significant individual struggles. 

CONS

• Way too much talking about the science and possibility of these powers not being real. It's a repetitive monologue and is an odd thing to constantly shove down the audience's throat
• Beats the audience over the head with "hey look!" callouts to parts of the film that reflect comic books
• Odd number of staring-into-camera close-ups 
• Convoluted ending that keeps piling on reveals. Some work, some don't
• Willis Dunn is a bit shafted here and definitely pales in comparison to McAvoy and Jackson having more fun

PROS

• Still an entertaining movie and builds tension and mystery well
• Some of the ending reveals are interesting 
• Jackson seems to be loving being Mr. Glass again
• Experimental camera views. Most work and add a unique flavor to the film
• On point original score that helps where it counts most
• McAvoy is the best part about the film again. His split personality characters are endlessly watchable and he's fully committed
• The fact this trilogy and connection of stories exists is cool and innovative

Rath's Review Score | 6.5/10