Glass

So here's the thing with this film. I was not on the hype train for this film like everyone else was. About the time this movie came out, I knew the twist in Split, I knew that the two movies were connected but I wanted to wait until I saw Split in order to see this film. So while everyone was getting pumped to see Glass, I was still waiting to find a cheap rental of Split. I was really behind the curve.

I also am finding that a lot of people loved Split because of the twist at the end, because it tied into Unbreakable, and maybe its because I knew that twist going in, but I enjoyed Split for totally different reasons. I mentioned in my Split review that I didn't need these movies to be connected. I was excited to see how they are all connected, and you will see in this review that I think it was cool to see them all on screen, especially this many years after Unbreakable, but overall, I didn't need this movie. It was just a bonus film instead of a culminating film. Maybe that influenced my viewing experience, maybe it didn't.

I should also note that I have not seen Unbreakable in a hot second. While I like Unbreakable, I don't think it really stuck with me. There are elements about Glass that make me want to go back and reexamine Unbreakable but overall, I'm watching this as a more of a sequel to Split then a sequel to Unbreakable. And maybe that's influenced my viewing experience, maybe it didn't.

Glass is the third film in the Unbreakable trilogy. It brings together the characters of Unbreakable and Split together as these characters are rounded up and put into a mental institutions (on really shaky legal grounds btw) run by Sarah Paulson's character.

These characters include David Dunn (played by Bruce Willis), Kevin/The Hoarde from Split (played by James McEvoy), and Elijah Price, or Mr. Glass (played by Samuel L Jackson).

The main conflict of this movie, besides these characters who do not want to be in this institution, is that Sarah Paulson's character is a psychiatrist specifically studying the phenomena of individuals believing they are superheroes. And right at the top, this is the best aspect of the film.

This topic was slightly touched on in Split, but I liked where they took it in the first and second act of this film. The second act is more of a character study with Sarah Paulson examining David Dunn, Kevin, and Elijah and figuring out how they tick and casting doubt on the idea that they are superheroes and not just individuals with unique, but totally normal character traits.

I think overall, the first two thirds of this movie are really great. And in reality, I don't hate the third act. Unfortunately, it just doesn't resonate with me and therefore gives the illusion that the movie didn't resonate with me that much.

As far as character performances go, overall, everybody sends in a pretty good performance and honestly that's a little surprising considering there are a lot of factors that would work against that happening.

First you have Bruce Willis as David Dunn. Willis has not sent in a great performance in his recent

films and you can see, at least an inkling that he is a really good actor in this film. Is it an Oscar worthy performance? No. But you can tell he actually gave a little bit of a shit this time around.

Furthermore, I really like seeing David Dunn after all this time. I like the relationship with his son (which is was great seeing Spencer Treat Clark grown up). I liked how his role as a vigilante has changed and how he's been looking for The Hoarde as a superhero in this world would do.

There was always as simplistic nature to Shymalan's superhero world and he does a really good job getting that feeling again, at least in the first act.

I don't really feel like I have to talk much more about James McEvoy because he brings what he did so perfectly in Split back into Glass and almost ups his game so well that you feel the different personalities he is portraying literally at the flick of a switch.

Part of the institution's counter measures to the Hoardes abilities is to flash a light at him and force a non-aggressive personality. So while in Split the personalities changed either off screen or over time most of the time, in this movie you see those split (pun intended) changes and it just adds to the credibility McEvoy has as an actor in my book. I've heard people say that he was snubbed an Oscar nom for his performance in Split and I have to agree. I don't think he stands a chance at a nom for Glass, but he does deserve some recognition for this role.

And then there's Mr. Glass.

This film helped me understand Mr. Glass a little bit more than I did in Unbreakable because he is a super genius. I don't know if I just didn't pick that up in Unbreakable, but it not only makes the suspense of this character interesting in this film, but it clarifies some questions I think I had in Unbreakable and again, makes me want to reexamine that film.

I don't think we give Samuel L Jackson enough credit because he is a really good actor. He is a character actor for sure and he is known more for his characters than his acting, but I do think that both this film and Unbreakable show that he's a good actor underneath the wacky characters. Because while Mr. Glass is a wacky character, it's probably one of his more serious roles.

So putting Jackson's performance aside, I do think that Mr. Glass is underutilized in this film. It eventually comes down to the super genius and The Beast teaming up against the hero and while that sounds interesting, the end result and culmination is somewhat lackluster. It's not horrible, it just underlines the lack of pay off of this entire movie in the third act.

Honestly, I saw Glass on the long plane ride back from Spain. Enjoyed it, but watched some other movies and kind of forgot what happened and I think it would have resonated more if the ending had been a little more solid. And that's an occupational risk of basing your career on your twists Shyamalan.

I'm going to leave it a little vague in case you haven't seen the film yet and don't want it spoiled, but I do feel like in the quest to up the stakes, Shymalan loses the ingredients that made Unbreakable and Split interesting films. These movies aren't grandiose superhero films, they're smaller character studies. Is the ending/entire film bad because of the ending? No. Like I said, I watched the film and enjoyed it. I'll give Shymalan some credit that he did bring the trilogy to a landing, but I won't say he stuck it.

It sounds like I'm being picky, but I think the lackluster ending is more attributed to the story choices he makes at the end, rather than the execution of the ending. I won't go into those to avoid spoilers, but I will give the movie its due credit. It is a concise conclusion. I wouldn't call it solid, but it is concise. What can I say, endings are hard.

Overall, Glass is the Return of the Jedi of the Unbreakable Trilogy. There are great performances from all the staple actors as well as Sarah Paulson. The first and second act do capture the elements of the previous films of a smaller, cerebral character piece for these really interesting characters. The third act, while a decent climax, does make some story decisions that I don't think were the best and overall leaves me with an overall "meh" feeling. While credit does need to be given to the good parts, there is something to be said on how a movie sticks the landing and it is the ending that prevents this movie from being really memorable in my opinion.

I feel like I am probably going to re-watch all these films and do an overall Unbreakable Trilogy rap up at some point in the future. I think of Shymalan's films, these rank near the top (even Glass). And I kind of want to unpack why that is the case. Shymalan is a unique filmmaker because while he is reviled for movies like The Happening and Avatar, he has produced some really great films. I still think he's a bit overrated, especially when you start talking about Signs, The Village, but there are some films that I genuinely like and its an interesting topic to delve into.

But those are my thoughts on Glass. What did you think of it? How does it fair with the rest of the Unbreakable trilogy? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your requests on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!