Glass is the third and final movie in M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable/Split trilogy. The film was about 19 years in the making ever since the first movie in the trilogy, Unbreakable, came out in 2000 and a surprise end credit scene in 2016’s Split revealed that the two movies shared the same universe. This also revealed that a confirmed sequel to both of these movies was coming. A lot of fans of the original Unbreakable, along with the new Split fans, were excited for the sequel, myself being one of them. Admittedly, I have never seen Split, but as a fan of Unbreakable, I was highly anticipating the sequel to the exciting psychological thriller.
What a disappointment.
Shyamalan made his debut with his classic movie The Sixth Sense, which is arguably his best movie to date. His well-crafted stories and patented Shyamalan twist made for a promising film career, with many calling him “The Next Spielberg.” Shyamalan then went on to direct Unbreakable, Signs and The Village, all of which were pretty decent thrillers.
So what happened?
The releases of Lady in the Water, The Happening, The Last Airbender, and After Earth began a dip in his career that branded him for the rest of his life. His patented twist became more of a crutch, and his eye for direction and storytelling became weak, to say the least. Though recently he had a comeback with the releases of The Visit and Split, the once great director never truly bounced back from his previous colossal failures.
Then came Glass.
Let’s start with the good. The performance from James McAvoy as “Kevin Wendell Crumb” is quite stellar. The ability to successfully pull off playing a tortured man with 24 personalities is something to behold. McAvoy commands every scene he is in by keeping the audience on their toes with his unpredictability and commitment to the characters.
Samuel L. Jackson reprises his role as the titular “Mr. Glass” and puts on a “Samuel L. Jackson-esque” performance that we have all come to know and love. The cinematography is also satisfying with its uses of color to differentiate the three main characters.
Too bad that can’t save the rest of the movie.
The whole structure of the movie is unbalanced, and the pacing has a slow start. The first act feels as if it repeats the same information over and over again—patients are locked up in an asylum but don’t want to be, patients are convinced they don’t have superpowers, Mr. Glass is hiding something. It takes the movie about an hour to explain this information. The last thing a movie should make an audience member do is say to themselves “yeah, I get it,” and this movie will make you think that for half of its runtime. The ending is infuriating due to a forced “Shyamalan-patented” twist that, along with the popcorn, leaves a bad taste in your mouth as you leave the theater.
Then there are the other performances.
Although the performances from Jackson and McAvoy were great, the rest of the cast was not good. Sarah Paulson, playing “Dr. Ellie Staple,” phones in her performance with weak character choices. The supporting cast of characters’ performances all range from ‘meh’ to bad once the third act gets into full swing.
Glass is a boring mess that tries to shatter your expectations but insteads breaks down the more you think about it. This movie proves that Shyamalan is not quite out of his funk, and he may never make it out. Watching this movie is about as fun as picking up shards of glass.
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