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Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Even with the movie called Glass, the feeling is that the title character and the name of the film take such a back seat that it should’ve been called something else. “Villains and Heroes” or Unbreakable Split by combining Split and Unbreakable together.
Night Shyamalan has come out with the third installment of his “trilogy” by bringing together the characters from Split and Unbreakable. At the end of Split, we realize that Unbreakable and Split were in the same universe. It was a pleasant surprise even though we didn’t know as we watched. A movie that was made 16 years after the first was indeed something to watch. So obviously we needed a sequel? A film that would tie in the main characters for one epic showdown: The Beast (McAvoy) versus the David Dunn (Willis). Yet, where does Elijah Price, aka Mr. Glass (Jackson), fit into all of this? A man that was last seen being committed to a psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. How could he possibly get out as he was in a wheelchair? They don’t really let you out of a psych ward if you are criminally insane. That is the ultimate problem with Glass, trying to find an area for a third character that doesn’t seem to be relevant at all. A mastermind that is actually one only with 30 minutes into the film. Shyamalan should’ve taken a different avenue than thrusting Elijah Price back into the world. Shyamalan should’ve waited another 16 years to honestly think of a way to bring all the characters together if he wanted that route.
If you haven’t watched Unbreakable or Split, here is a quick recap. In Unbreakable, David Dunn (Willis) life is suddenly changed when he is the only survivor of a train crash. Throughout the movie, he learns that he can lift more than most people have visions of evil deeds people are doing, but the weakness is water. In the film, he meets a man named Elijah Price (Jackson), who is the opposite of Dunn. Price has a bone disease that makes his bones brittle as they easily break. In Split, a girl named Casey (Taylor-Joy) and some others are kidnaped by Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man suffering from dissociative identity disorder (DID). Kevin has 23 distinct personalities within him with the 24th being the most deadly, The Beast. When the Beast takes over, he gives Kevin superhuman abilities but also cannibalistic tendencies while judging people as he plans to rid the world of the impure (those who have never suffered). Spoiler Alert! Elijah caused the train accident in Unbreakable, and in Split, Casey manages to escape.
That brings us to Glass. Glass opens up with Dunn is now in Philly working with his son (Clark) in a family own electronics shop. With his son’s help, Dunn spends his days and sometimes nights being a superhero with the paper naming him: The Overseer. Dunn and his son are looking for four cheerleaders that have been kidnapped by Kevin. As Dunn figures out where the cheerleaders are, he comes into battle with the Beast, who climbs across the wall like freakin’ Spiderman. The two battled for a while. Suddenly they are captured and end up at Raven Hill Memorial Psychiatric Hospital with Dr. Ellie Staple (Paulson) watching over them.
Where does Glass fail at? Well first, the movie failed with the title character. We are introduced to Elijah and see his state. He sits in his wheelchair, just twitching his face like he is in a vegetative state. The movie is named Glass, and the first appearance we get of the title character is him sitting in a wheelchair looking absolutely hopeless. A once criminal mastermind looks like a shell of himself.
The second problem is that Samuel L. Jackson is literally in the movie for like 20 minutes. 20 freakin minutes. Sam could’ve stayed home for 20 minutes. When he actually starts talking and seems like a criminal mastermind, his role and time seem rushed.
Another problem with this film is the actual theme of the overall film. One would think that it will be a lot of chasing and fighting. Yet, it is more of a movie that spends a great deal of time, I mean A LOT of time in the hospital where Paulson’s character is in charge of. She spends most of her time trying to convince each character in the film that their powers are not real, and they are just regular humans. She questions Dunn to the extent that he almost doesn’t believe he is really powerful. He actually starts believing that David has the same ability as trained magicians. Really? Magicians. That is what you come up with. With Kevin, she tries to convince Dennis and Patricia (two of Kevin’s personas) that the Beast has just been copying rock climbers and was shot by defective cartridges. Copying rock climbers? There is no way that is true but it happened in this movie. Where does all of this convincing happen at? In a bright ass pink room with the three superhumans together. Only Dunn and Kevin talk but Elijah just sits there twitching. A complete waste of time with the film.
The downside is the actual fight between Dunn and the Beast. When Elijah reveals he is not as handicapped and he teams up with the Beast, you think the story will pick up to the point where it would be exciting. Yet, the movie fails as the Beast and Dunn fighting looks awkward and stiff. The best part was when the Beast literally throws Dunn like a stuff animal. That was the best and only scene. The rest of the film could be left alone.
The only positive about this film is the acting of McAvoy. He gives his all portraying every character he has differently. He makes each character so believable with their different mannerisms and the way his reaction is as he changes personalities.
Glass could’ve been a pretty good movie. It should’ve been presented at least 16 years down the line. McAvoy is the one that carries this movie respectively for the film with his characters. Glass is one of those movies that can be skipped and never be seen again.
