Glass

When M Night Shyamalan has damaged his reputation and career to the point where he self-finances his recent films (starting with The Visit) to take charge of a comeback, things can get rather fascinating. After starting simple with that found footage film, his creative ambitions showed some potential growth from his horrible days such as crafting the character of Kevin Wendell Crumbs in Split. His next big move brings us to a sequel combination of 2 of his better works (Unbreakable and Split) that exist in the same universe: Glass, which was slated to be the ending conclusions to the arcs from both features and is written/directed by him. It can't be denied that this heavily flawed filmmaker doesn't shy away from risks, though that doesn't mean his past history of letting his ego affect his writing won't disappear right away (especially since his creative control is guaranteed with his low budget works). The marketing didn't feel something that I would be anticipating since it's his name gave me cause for concern and it was released to a divisive critical reception between critics and audiences. I entered the auditorium cautious with low expectations ready to be fair with Shyamalan and left it with frustration the more I thought about it.

My Thoughts on the previous films:

• Unbreakable (2000): I still love Unbreakable since it possesses the best aspects of the director in his good old days: restrained but emotional performances, Bruce Willis back when he actually cared enough to put effort in his acting, a dilemma that's fascinating to explore, and the unique bond with the father and son. One sticking point that will always come back to haunt the director in his later films is his odd obsession with water as some sort of weakness. ⭑⭑⭑⭑
• Split (2016): Split is certainly not as rough as I remembered it from before after getting some clarity on a second watch but I'm still not very invested in it. James McAvoy's restrained portrayal carries this strong, it's nice seeing Anya Taylor-Joy get some more exposure in more roles after this, and the story can be interesting at points. However, the acting from the 2 high schools girls is bad, the ending is underwhelming, and plot points get very repetitive. ⭑⭑⭑ 

Plot: Taking place 3 weeks after the events of Split, the story finds the three main characters captured into a physiatrics hospital where the doctor is trying to convince them their abilities are fake. If there's anything that can be said about this premise, is that it does take risks. There are areas where some effort certainly shows such as the continuity of having the same actors return for their respective roles. The first act does deliver on showing the audience a piece of the spectacle they showed up for. There are fascinating moments where certain interactions are kinda nice to watch.

However, for what it gets right, it doesn't make for its major failures in being a worthy conclusion to the previous stories. Instead of remembering the strengths of character studies through meaningful discussions that feel human, this aims to ignore what makes them great and just focus on a comic book angle while having twists just for the sake of it. Any chance of finding fulfillment on where the 3 protagonists end up gets tosses out the window when the old habits of Shyamalan haunt this into something unnecessary. This set-up has some plot holes that are hard to ignore and the logic is very inconsistent. The biggest offense is the ending where plot twists for the sake of having them are painful to watch and the conclusion is incredibly insulting to the relative films.

Characters: The people to focus on are Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), Elijah Glass (Samuel L Jackson), and David Dunn (Bruce Willis). James' performance is the best thing here with the range he has to show but one minor drawback is how hammy and over-the-top it can get, which might get a little irksome at moments (his restraint in Split is better than here but a good portrayal nonetheless). A joke can even be made that he's doing that so much since he knows how bad X-Men Dark Phoenix is going to be and wants to salvage his career as much as he can. Samuel's performance finds itself slightly more refine where his restrained nuance in his facial expressions and interactions with James provide more of the interesting moments. The only issue with it is what happens in that third act that makes him too silly and weird.

Bruce is the most disappointing actor out of that bunch because it's very obvious how much he's sleepwalking here, which is shameful because his character was the one I had the most investment in. It's so bad that when he's in fights with McAvoy, the camera shots are displaying his lack of effort in showing a struggle or any interest in the brawl. A mixed honorable mention goes to Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) who doesn't get that much to do and her acting talent is underutilized. A dishonorable mention goes to Dr Elle Staple (Sarah Paulson) for being given terrible direction that affecting her portrayal overall.

Overall Consensus: Glass is an insulting conclusion in a trilogy due to the lack of investment in the bad writing, inconsistent acting, and a terrible ending, though has a few interesting moments and a decent first half. ⭑⭑1/2💻 Runtime: 2 hours 7 minutes PG-13

Reasons to watch it: You like any of the aforementioned actors. You are interested in Shyamalan's recent track record. You have seen the related films in the trilogy and want to see how it ends. You don't mind weaknesses from the director that hinder the quality. You don't mind people talking about comic books a lot.

Reasons to avoid it: You dislike any of the aforementioned actors and/or M Night Shyamalan. You have seen the related films in the trilogy and don't want to see how it ends. You hate weaknesses from the director that hinder the quality. You despise badly executed plot twists and awkward cameos. You are annoyed with water being used as a weakness. You don't want to hear discussions about comic books.