GLASS REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

In 2017, director M. Night Shyamalan surprised his audiences when it was revealed that his latest film, Split, was actually a sequel to one of his earlier features, Unbreakable, which was released in 2000. He soon announced that he was creating a film that would link the two films together. Two years after the release of Split, Shyamalan has released Glass, however, does it live up to expectations or is it a disappointment like most highly anticipated sequels?
From Unbreakable, Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn as does Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, known also by his pseudonym Mr. Glass. Joining from Split are James McAvoy, reprising his role as Kevin Wendell Crumb and the multiple identities who reside within, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, the only captive to survive an encounter with The Beast. Following the conclusion of Split, Glass finds Dunn pursuing Crumb's superhuman figure of The Beast in a series of escalating encounters, while the shadowy presence of Price emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men.
I was pleasantly surprised after first watching Unbreakable two years ago. At the time, Shyamalan was known for his bad films, including After Earth, The Happening and The Last Airbender so I wasn’t expecting Unbreakable to be as good as it was. Despite the quality of Unbreakable, I wasn’t interested in seeing Split. However, with the release of Glass, I decided to finally watch Split and, while I enjoyed it overall and was impressed with McAvoy’s portrayal of an individual with dissociative identity disorder (DID), I think that making it a sequel to Unbreakable was unnecessary and I felt that Bruce Willis’ cameo felt forced. Split could have easily worked as a stand-alone thriller.
Prior to watching Glass, my expectations weren’t high, due to critics’ reviews ranging from mixed to negative. While I can definitely see people walking away from this disappointed, I think that Glass was a good sequel. It’s being described as a thriller and horror, however, for most of its runtime, Glass lacks both thrilling and scary elements. Its conclusion, which takes place outside a psychiatric hospital, features a lot of action, which leads to a surprise ending, a common trait in Shyamalan’s films.
Unbreakable describes Willis’ character, Dunn, who is the only survivor of a train crash and miraculously didn’t have any injuries. Split describes McAvoy’s character, Kevin Wendell Crumb, who suffers from DID. Glass is the nickname of Jackson’s character, Elijah Price, as he suffers from Type 1 osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease, where his bones break easily like glass. While Jackson returns as the titular character, who, at the end of Unbreakable is sent to a psychiatric hospital, many people may be disappointed with his screen time. He doesn’t make his appearance until almost halfway through the film and, even then, he doesn’t say much. After being imprisoned for almost two decades, Price appears to be depressed. However, after both Crumb and Dunn are brought to the same psychiatric hospital and after discovering one of Crumb’s multiple personalities, known as ‘The Beast’, Price finally begins planning his escape. During the scenes with the doctors, although he isn’t communicating, you can tell he’s planning something dangerous. Jackson has given many memorable performances in the past and is currently best known for portraying Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While his portrayal of Price isn’t his best, he proves that he can still give solid performances outside of franchises.
McAvoy, whose performance was the most impressive aspect of Split, doesn’t disappoint and shows off his ability to portray several different personalities in one scene. Willis, unfortunately, gives the weakest performance of the three. It’s not a terrible performance, it’s just that he isn’t given much to do, except fight against McAvoy’s ‘The Beast’ and, even then, his fighting sequences are performed by a stunt double. Returning characters include Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey, who was kidnapped by one of Kevin’s personalities, Dennis; Spencer Treat Clark as Dunn’s son, Joseph, and Charlayne Woodard as Price’s mother. While Taylor-Joy gave a solid performance in Split, I don’t agree with how Shyamalan’s written her character. You would think that, after going through something as traumatic as a kidnapping, the victim would never want to see their kidnapper again. However, Casey hasn’t stopped thinking about Kevin and wants to see him again. Clark and Woodard are given little to do. Sarah Paulson portrays Dr. Ellie Staple who is a psychiatrist that tries to convince Dunn, Price and Crumb that they don’t have supernatural abilities.
What I found most surprising about ‘Unbreakable’ was how well it worked as a unconventional superhero film. Now, the genre is associated with films in the MCU and DCEU (DC Extended Universe). Glass contains many references to superheroes and Dr Staple tries to convince her patients that they’re not superheroes, however, that is all proven wrong in the final act that takes place between Dunn, Price and Crumb outside the hospital. It isn’t one of the greatest fight sequences, however, it’s the most thrilling part of the film. What I found amusing were the references to Marvel and Avengers. The word, ‘Marvel’ appears on the front of a magazine and Jackson asks The Beast if he’s going to avenge them. I have no idea if these were intentional references or just a coincidence.
I think that, as a viewer, I’m not easily disappointed and my expectations are rarely high. I think that’s why I’m satisfied with Glass. I do still think that both Unbreakable and Split would’ve worked better as two stand-alone features and I don’t think Glass was necessary, however, I can understand Shyamalan’s decision to create a trilogy as it was interesting to see the characters of Dunn, Price and Crumb interact alongside each other.
7/10