Movie Review -- Glass

   Did you know that Unbreakable (2000) was always meant to be a trilogy? Yup. That was how it was intended from day one. It definitely needed two sequels, right? Right? No, I'm being sarcastic! Unbreakable's first sequel – if you can even call it that – was Split (2016), a good movie, but it had nothing to do with the original. And the second sequel Glass – the subject of today's review – is an awkward marriage of the two. I'm going to have to look at Glass on its own since I haven't seen Unbreakable, so how does it fare in the eyes of this fractionally informed viewer? Let's find out.

   Glass is about the characters from both of the previous two films and despite having not seen Unbreakable I was able to pick up on and follow things alright. After a fight to free some hostages/keep some human sacrifices the Horde and the Overseer are imprisoned in a mental institution along with Mr. Glass. There they are treated by Dr. Ellie Staple who tries convincing them – and the world – that they don't really possess superpowers. It's a story that dissects and deconstructs how superhero movies and comic books work. It seems that every five minutes or so people talk about comic book tropes and cliches and what they think superheroes mean to people. These discussions can be interesting at first but I can't help but think they've overstayed their welcome by the time they keep showing up even during the final action scene. As for the tone, Glass is largely devoid of the tension and thrills that Split had. The plot moves along nonchalantly, trying to slowly build into action, which leads me to my biggest complaint about Glass: it's kind of boring. Pretty much the entire second act is people sitting around and talking; nothing happens! This isn't helped by the fact that probably 3/4 of this film takes place at one location, making it feel like a prison movie. And to add insult to injury, the second act teases us with a cool location that we don't even get to see! What a load.

   What doesn't suck is the acting; the three main characters are all very well portrayed. We've got Samuel L. Jackson as the enigmatic Mr. Glass, Bruce Willis as the in-over-his-head vigilante Overseer, and James McAvoy as the Horde, i.e. that guy with two dozen personalities. The problem comes from the fact that the story doesn't always know what to do with them. For example, Bruce Willis is gone for large portions of the film. Also, remember how terrifying it was seeing Kevin Wendell Crumb become the Beast in Split? Remember how it only happened twice in that film? Well, in this one it happens probably ten or eleven times and after a while it starts to look silly. And then there's Dr. Staple played by a rather one-note Sarah Paulson whose job it is to hold the same facial expression throughout the entire film. Also, why does the lady playing Mr. Glass's mother look like she's the same age as him?

   Lastly, I have to discuss the direction by M. Night Shyamalan. I've already mentioned how he handled Glass' tone and as for the cinematography it's pretty much what you'd expect of the man. If you like extreme closeups then you'll freakin' love Glass. There's also plenty of subjective camera angles as well as some dynamic shots centred on the characters which looks cool at first but also makes the action scenes hard to watch. Shyamalan also makes his customary cameo. So yeah, there's that.

   And that's Glass, a thoroughly “meh” superhero film that tries to be really different and smart but with mixed success which could've been so much more. One could say that it's a return-to-mediocre-form for M. Night Shyamalan. But if you ask me there's two words that perfectly sum up Glass: half empty.

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