Glass (2019)

Movie Info

He’s the man with the plan

Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy) aka the Horde is lose in Philadelphia.  Vigilante hero David Dunn (Bruce Willis) aka the Overseer and his son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark) are working to locate him but finding the Horde could be like finding a needle in a haystack.  When Crumb and Dunn walk into a trap, they find themselves institutionalized by Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) and facing a revolutionary treatment program alongside Dunn’s old enemy Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) aka Mr. Glass.  Mr. Glass always has a plan, and Dr. Staple could be walking right into his trap.

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Glass is a superhero thriller.  The movie is a final part of a trilogy preceded by Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016).  The film was met with tepid reviews and a poor response at the box office.  The film received a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actor (Willis).

This is going to go well, lady

Shyamalan was a director with unlimited potential when he exploded onto the scene.  He hit a rough patch (a real rough patch) and movies like The Visit and Split showed he might have potential to restore his reputation.  While I don’t think Glass is an awful movie, I think it missed the mark Shyamalan needed to hit.

The story is largely the problem with Glass.  It’s pacing is awful and it gets too heavy into the “this is how comic books work” idea (especially since so many comic book movies have been released since Unbreakable).  The characters take illogical jumps (Willis’ character has been hero for ages yet doesn’t seem to have much of a plan to deal with police).  A few quick sessions has the character believing that they don’t have powers, then one of the slowest “big battle” fights starts, and leads to the end the characters journey we’ve experienced on a rather down note.

I’d watch a movie/TV series where these three road around in a van and solved crimes…

The acting is solid on all fronts.  Bruce Willis has pretty much become the broody guy in every movie he is in.  He delivers deep, pointed lines, but he is really good at it.  I actually wish that Samuel L. Jackson’s Elijah had been in the picture more.  He was such a great part of Unbreakable.  James McAvoy is great…he doesn’t show as much range as he did in Split due to the script, but he still shows a ton of versatility due to the character’s construction.  Sarah Paulson (like Willis) always seems to play the same character, but like Willis, she’s also good at it.  I particularly like the trio of allies for the main characters in Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard, and Anya Taylor-Joy.  The Anya Taylor-Joy and James McAvoy relationship I think is very interesting (though it has a Stockholm syndrome feel to it) and reminds me a lot of DC’s Eclipso character who was a villain with powers fighting against his normal persona…but he also had friends and allies helping him.

The most interesting relationship in the movie

Visually, the movie is also compelling.  I like how Shyamalan tells the story, but I just don’t particularly like the story.  Split and Unbreakable combined decent visuals with decent storytelling, and the nice look of this movie just doesn’t elevate the story enough.

Glass was frustrating.  I wanted to like it more, but the fact that I didn’t hate it made the issue that it was just average even more glaring.  Shyamalan has indicated that he doesn’t want to return to the “Unbreakable” universe, but the whole story is an origin story…now we don’t get to see what comes next.  I can see a future where there are comic books or novels continuing the story of Unbreakable, but it won’t be as satisfying as another movie entry…and the fact everyone went out as chumps in the end.

Related Links:

Unbreakable (2000)

Split (2016)