Director M.
Night Shyamalan is technically a great film director. Couple that with his
ability to concoct an original story complete with an ending you rarely if ever
see coming and it makes him one of the best around. With GLASS the question is
can he take three movies and bring them all together into a cohesive story? The
answer is absolutely.
If you missed
the earlier films go back and watch them starting with UNBREAKABLE from 2000.
In that film Bruce Willis stars as David Dunn who discovers he is invulnerable
and can sense evil when he touches someone as well as having an arch enemy in
the form of Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson). Shyamalan followed that film up
in 2016 with SPLIT in which we are introduced to James McAvoy as…well numerous
characters. His character possesses several personalities the most frightening
of which is the Beast, a serial killer. At the end of that film just before the
credits we got a glimpse of Willis as Dunn and word quickly spread that this
was a trilogy.
Now we have
GLASS. All three characters come together in a unique and fascinating way. The
film opens with Dunn now roaming the streets in search of the Beast who’s been
killing women still. Dunn’s son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark who actually played
the same role in UNBREAKABLE in 2000) helps him as well as keeping tabs on
their security business. As he’s about to return home Dunn bumps into McAvoy
and realizes who he is. Tracking him down and facing off against the Beast both
are surprised when a task force shows up and captures them.
The task
force is led by Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson), a psychiatrist who works
specifically with patients who believe they are super heroes. Each of the three
is held captive in a special location with different safeguards to prevent them
from escaping. For Dunn it is his “kryptonite”, water that hoses him down
daily. For McAvoy is flashing lights that force him to change personalities.
And with Price he is now in a catatonic state in a wheelchair unable to speak.
Dr. Staple
works with the threesome as she tries to convince them that their beliefs are
nothing more than in their minds. Physically they are no different than any
other person on earth. Which makes the viewer wonder, were we actually seeing
them perform the feats we saw in the previous films or were we just believing
they could do what they did?
Along the way
Joseph continues to search for a way to free his father. At the same time the
sole survivor of the Beast’s attack, Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy), is called in by
Dr. Staple to talk to McAvoy. She does so but is left with more questions than
answers. She checks out comics, the source for these three’s behavior according
to Price in the first film, and learns more about them there. At the same time
Joseph does some digging and discovers a secret as well.
Elijah Price
isn’t seen until 20-30 minutes into the film and silent for quite a bit of that
time. But since his character is also known as Glass (his super villain name
because of a disease that makes his bones brittle and easily breakable) he has
to have a larger part than one would think. The evil mastermind that is Glass
comes out eventually and plans the escape of all three.
I could
provide more but I don’t want to ruin the surprises that Shyamalan has
developed for the viewer here. Suffice to say that you might think you know
what’s coming but by the end you’ll still end up surprised. And in addition to
that while nothing has been said the distinct possibility of yet more films in
the UNBREAKABLE universe are a possibility.
The acting
here is amazing. It’s the best performance from Willis in some time, especially
since he’s made a career change of starring in low budget action flicks these
days. Jackson as the evil manipulating, posturing mastermind does his usual
standout job. But as with SPLIT it is McAvoy who takes the cake here giving
multiple performances in one person. Each of the characters that inhabit the
body he owns has their own way of behaving and that’s amazing to watch.
I’d read
lackluster reviews for this film before watching and I’m not sure why. Perhaps
it was because the two previous films moved at a faster pace and had more
action. But for me this film was still a joy to watch and tied up all three
films perfectly. It’s one that I know I’ll watch again alongside the other two
and would recommend for your viewing as well.
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