Conner Harris ‘19, Photo Editor
The movie calendar for January 2019 was set to be a mediocre month in terms of blockbusters. However, Glass, an M Night Shyamalan film, was anticipated to be the highlight of the month with a release date of Jan. 19.
If you are a fan of Shyamalan’s work, you would realize that this pop-culture-psychological drama, Glass, is an unexpected sequel to his two films – Split and Unbreakable. For those not familiar with the two previous films, the title of the film comes from Samuel L Jackson’s character, Elijah Price, a man born with brittle bones fittingly named Mr. Glass.
The film’s beginning sequences see Jackson’s character confined to a wheelchair and heavily sedated while being stuck in a mental institution. The first act of the film leaves Mr. Glass out for the most part.
The opening of the film begins where Split left audiences: Kevin (James McAvoy), a psychopathic man with many distinctive personalities collectively known as The Horde, on a killing spree that has left the city in terror. The superhuman personality in Kevin known as The Beast is the one responsible for the killings but is also backed by all the other personalities besides Kevin himself.
David Dunn (Bruce Willis), the superhuman, telepathic security guard from Unbreakable, is now a wanted vigilante known as the Overseer. His story begins with tracking down The Beast.
After an initial confrontation between the two superhumans, police escort the two to a mental institution headed by Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson). The remainder of the film is spent in the institution and the surrounding area while Staple attempts to convince the three main characters that their abilities are simply figmints of their imaginations.
Glass, a finale almost two decades in the making, provides a sense of nostalgia by reuniting us with Dunn and Glass, and it also gives us another exciting and creepy performance from McAvoy’s.
However, besides these two feats, the rest of Glass feels forced. While Shyamalan certainly provides his signature twist ending, the sequences leading to the conclusion feel disconnected and lacking of any action or suspense.
On top of this, after waiting through the lackluster build up, the twist ending feels forced and seems like it was put in just for the sake of having a twist, which this movie did not need.
Additionally, Some minor characters appear again in Glass being portrayed by the same actors and actresses but are not used enough and do not live up to the potential in which they could have.
In short, Glass, the sequel two decades in the making, could have used another year to work out its kinks. Ultimately, this movie feels rushed and would have benefited from some more work from Shyamalan.
Photo courtesy of Movie Web
Lyon Life 