Glass

Dir: M. Night Shyamalan

2019

***

After the 2000 release of Unbreakable, rumors of possible sequels began circulating with Bruce Willis quoted as saying he was up for an Unbreakable trilogy. Director and writer M. Night Shyamalan however denied rumors he had written Unbreakable as the first installment of a trilogy and stated that, because of the disappointing box office performance, it was very unlikely we’d see the characters again. The DVD sales were successful however, and kept the dream alive. Shyamalan had many other projects he wanted to work on first though, but it is safe to say that Unbreakable was always on his mind. Shyamalan’s following films didn’t have the same impact as Sixth Sense or Unbreakable, some were good and some were bad (some were really bad) until 2016’s Split. It felt right, like a return to greatness. The last scene in the film though was an entirely different twist than we were used to from the king of twist endings, as we see Bruce Willis return as the unbreakable David Dunn. Suddenly, a return to form, the first great Shyamalan film in ages became the sequel to one of his best, and one of the best superhero/comic book films of all time. It was announced that Samuel L. Jackson was set to return as Elijah Price, AKA Mr Glass, alongside Bruce Willis and James McAvoy for a big old Unbreakable/Split showdown. McAvoy’s character, Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man suffering from dissociative identity disorder, was actually in the original script for Unbreakable but was written out due his addition complicating the story. Shyamalan had thought about making a different film just about him but in the end decided to include David Dunn and make the trilogy he deep down always wanted to make. Kind of amazing though that he didn’t have a finalized idea of what Glass was going to be before he announced it. What was even more amazing was that, because Unbreakable had been produced under Touchstone, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, while Split was produced through Universal Pictures, Shyamalan managed to obtain permission from Disney to reuse the character of Dunn. He met with Walt Disney Studios president Sean Bailey and came to a gentlemen's agreement, whereby Bailey agreed to allow the use of the character in the film without a fee and Shyamalan promised that Disney would be involved in a sequel, if developed. It’s a real first and quite a monumental happening and if it sets a president, then so many more films – particularly sequels that we’ve always wanted to see – could now happen. Glass was a go and Shyamalan announced that the films should now be referred to as the Eastrail 177 Trilogy – the Eastrail 177 being the train that crashed in the first film. James McAvoy was up for it following the last scene in Split and Willis said he was up for it if Samuel L. Jackson was, so when Jackson said he was up for it if Willis was, it was set in stone. I’m not sure whether Glass is the sequel I thought it would be and there were elements about it that I found negative but on reflection, I think it contains the same genius we see in the first two films. Set three weeks after Split, where Kevin Wendell Crumb earns the nickname "The Horde", vigilante David Dunn and his now-grown son Joseph (a now grown-up Spencer Treat Clark returning from Unbreakable), who have been working together to take down criminals, set out to save four cheerleaders Crumb has abducted. David comes across Kevin in his Hedwig persona and discerns the cheerleaders' location using his extrasensory perception. After freeing all four cheerleaders, he confronts Kevin only for both to be arrested when the ensuing fight spills out into the streets. The two are sent to a mental institution where Elijah Price, David's sworn enemy, known as Mr. Glass, has been held since the events of Unbreakable. Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson), the head doctor of the mental institution, works with patients who claim to have special powers. Staple reveals that she has been given three days to persuade David, Kevin, and Elijah that they are "normal" people who simply believe they have superpowers. Staple also knows that David's alleged weakness is water and has a machine that forces The Horde to switch identities, effectively disarming The Beast. Joseph, Mrs. Price, and Casey Cooke (who survived an attack from the Beast in Split) all visit at separate times to attempt to aid their associates, but fail. Staple puts the three superhumans in one room for an evaluation and poisons David and The Horde with doubts about their abilities, accusing David of having the same ability as trained magicians and Dennis (a persona of The Horde) of copying rock climbers and being shot by defective cartridges. Suddenly the film feels like a psychological thriller, rather than a superhero movie. I loved the ambiguity for here on in and the role that the main characters play but also the part each of their associates play. Joseph, Mrs. Price and Casey Cooke have far more input than the main characters do and the film plays out like a true comic book and not like a comic book movie. I believe this is why it has been met with some criticism. The final scene, the promised showdown if you will, was probably not what everyone thought it would be, indeed, it isn’t at all what is promised in the film itself, however, if you look beyond it, you’ll find that everything that happens is truly authentic. The conclusion is unexpected, especially from a superhero movie but on reflection it does feel like a logical progression and very much a 21st Century twist. The original cut is supposedly three and a half hours long and part of me wishes I’d seen that instead, as I do feel there could have been far more to it than there was and I really wanted more. It is a subdued film in many respects as it is about the mythology, rather than the superhero action sequences and fighting. Over the top special effects were always going to be out of place in this film and they were missing from both Unbreakable and Split, so I’m not sure anyone can complain of a lack of them. I’m thrilled that Shyamalan stuck to his convictions and I have absolutely no problem with any of the plot, I just feel that a certain something was missing. I’m not sure what that certain something was, I just don’t feel like this was the best sequel to Unbreakable or Split and it certainly wasn’t the re-introduction to Mr Glass that I had got all excited over. I have stacks of respects for it though, I think it is just as genius as the first two films, it just wasn’t as pretty. I guess I’m sad that its all over, as well as being happy that they ended it correctly and maybe, just maybe I’m disappointed that Shyamalan didn’t go all out Marvel style but overall I think it was fine. Maybe leaving it nineteen years was always going to lead to an element of anti-climax but I think there are two ways of looking at it. If you see it as an Unbreakable follow up you may be disappointed. If you look at it as a Split sequel however, then I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I think that’s the best way to look at it too, as James McAvoy steals the show in every scene he’s in.