movie review
Glass
Starring: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Tagline: The world of superheroes will be shattered.
The worlds of Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016) collide in Glass, the final chapter in writer-director M. Night Shyamalan’s Eastrail 177 Trilogy.
David Dunn (Bruce Willis), the plane crash survivor with superhuman abilities from Unbreakable, is now a vigilante known as The Overseer, who is taking down criminals with the help of his now-grown son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark). The superhero finds himself on the trail of Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), the kidnapper with dissociative identity disorder from Split who has been given the nickname The Horde.
But just as they clash, both men are arrested and sent to a mental health facility which also houses Dunn’s nemesis Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson). The three become the patients of psychiatrist Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) who specializes in people exhibiting delusions of grandeur and tries to persuade the men that they are normal humans who mistakenly believe they have super powers.
Things eventually come to a head as a supposed twist leads us to an ending that is about as anticlimactic as a climax can be. Shyamalan is no stranger to controversial endings; even Glass’s parent project Unbreakable had one. But this time you’re just offered a conclusion that leaves you thinking “this can’t be it?” as you keep waiting for something more interesting to happen, although that satisfying finale never arrives.
There are some intriguing parts along the journey; there is significant tension at points as you try to figure out which side is more convincing and who will, in one way or another, emerge victorious. But the overall pace is too slow to maintain the intrigue and interest. And when things derail towards the end, the whole thing becomes a convoluted mess that doesn’t do justice to the significantly better original projects that inspired this final chapter.
It does not feel like Glass was masterfully thought up nearly two decades ago (even though it supposedly was) and you aren’t left with the impression that the worlds of Unbreakable and Split have been seamlessly put together here. This feel like a rather forced marriage, disappointingly less than the sum of its disparate parts.
For all its many pitfalls though, the film does make fairly good use of its absolutely stellar cast, especially the wonderful McAvoy who is terrific throughout the film and makes the movie worth the watch as he displays his acting range while skilfully switching between his character’s many personalities. Jackson too is impressive, as is Willis despite being relegated to a secondary slot for a large chunk of the movie. Paulson is good in her role as well, and it is nice to see the grownup Clark reprise the part he played as a child 19 years ago.
Visually, the film is competently made and grips you with its ominous atmosphere, but Shyamalan can’t make full use of the potential this project inherently possesses. The movie begins promisingly, but Glass ultimately suffers because of issues with its pacing, coherence, and how its story unfolds.
Viewers are likely to enjoy watching the performances of the actors and be intrigued by the overall concept of the movie, but its underwhelming, polarizing conclusion will probably leave you wishing the filmmaker had made better use of the fascinating characters he inherited from his previous films.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
David Dunn (Bruce Willis), the plane crash survivor with superhuman abilities from Unbreakable, is now a vigilante known as The Overseer, who is taking down criminals with the help of his now-grown son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark). The superhero finds himself on the trail of Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), the kidnapper with dissociative identity disorder from Split who has been given the nickname The Horde.
But just as they clash, both men are arrested and sent to a mental health facility which also houses Dunn’s nemesis Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson). The three become the patients of psychiatrist Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) who specializes in people exhibiting delusions of grandeur and tries to persuade the men that they are normal humans who mistakenly believe they have super powers.
Things eventually come to a head as a supposed twist leads us to an ending that is about as anticlimactic as a climax can be. Shyamalan is no stranger to controversial endings; even Glass’s parent project Unbreakable had one. But this time you’re just offered a conclusion that leaves you thinking “this can’t be it?” as you keep waiting for something more interesting to happen, although that satisfying finale never arrives.
There are some intriguing parts along the journey; there is significant tension at points as you try to figure out which side is more convincing and who will, in one way or another, emerge victorious. But the overall pace is too slow to maintain the intrigue and interest. And when things derail towards the end, the whole thing becomes a convoluted mess that doesn’t do justice to the significantly better original projects that inspired this final chapter.
It does not feel like Glass was masterfully thought up nearly two decades ago (even though it supposedly was) and you aren’t left with the impression that the worlds of Unbreakable and Split have been seamlessly put together here. This feel like a rather forced marriage, disappointingly less than the sum of its disparate parts.
For all its many pitfalls though, the film does make fairly good use of its absolutely stellar cast, especially the wonderful McAvoy who is terrific throughout the film and makes the movie worth the watch as he displays his acting range while skilfully switching between his character’s many personalities. Jackson too is impressive, as is Willis despite being relegated to a secondary slot for a large chunk of the movie. Paulson is good in her role as well, and it is nice to see the grownup Clark reprise the part he played as a child 19 years ago.
Visually, the film is competently made and grips you with its ominous atmosphere, but Shyamalan can’t make full use of the potential this project inherently possesses. The movie begins promisingly, but Glass ultimately suffers because of issues with its pacing, coherence, and how its story unfolds.
Viewers are likely to enjoy watching the performances of the actors and be intrigued by the overall concept of the movie, but its underwhelming, polarizing conclusion will probably leave you wishing the filmmaker had made better use of the fascinating characters he inherited from his previous films.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
- Sameen Amer
The Express Tribune Blogs - 25th January, 2019 *
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