Movie Review: Glass

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STARRING: JAMES MCAVOY, BRUCE WILLIS, SAMUEL L. JACKSON, ANYA TAYLOR-JOY, SPENCER TREAT CLARK, CHARLAYNE WOODARD, AND SARAH PAULSON

DIRECTED BY: M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN

RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 18, 2019

 

M. Night Shyamalan is back with his third and final installment of superhero (good) versus super villain (evil) films. Glass answers all of the unanswered questions from Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016).  With a budget of $20 million, the film, since its release date on January 18th, has raked in more than $246.3 million worldwide which leads one to believe is this really the last movie in the franchise. According to Shyamalan it is, but only time will tell.

The film begins with David Dunn (Bruce Willis) doing heroic acts as “The Overseer” assisted by his son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark) throughout the years after it has been  discovered that he somehow possesses super-strength and enhanced durability. He still comes from out of the shadows to keep his city safe until he decides to do something about someone who kidnapped 4 high school cheerleaders, which was Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), a mass murderer who allegedly has 24 different personalities, including the Beast. The Beast occurs when a few of his other personalities step out and “share the light”. When this personality occurs, Kevin gains super-strength, durability, and animal-like instincts, including cannibalism. David makes a dastardly decision to rescue the cheerleaders from Kevin, hashing it out with him after he frees them. He regrets it as soon as they end up in the open surrounded by multiple authorities from asylums and the police department.

Word gets out as David and Kevin are taken into custody so that they could be managed by Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) whose main goal is to influence them that they are delusional and do not actually have superhuman abilities. Casey Cooke (Anya Taylor-Joy) is one of the main victims of Kevin who escaped from him in Split and one would assume that she would be ecstatic to hear that he has finally been taken down, however, she has gained a more peculiar relationship with him and was rather baffled when her principal informed her of the news. She reluctantly decides to visit him in the asylum as soon as she finds out where he is being held.

While at the asylum, Kevin gave the staff the hardest time, having lights to keep him tranquilized every time he tried to escape while David was relatively calm in his internment. Before Dr. Staple began her group session with David and Kevin, Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) is introduced in the film after 19 years since his star appearance in Unbreakable. The last time that he was seen, he was a comic-lover and a mastermind who believed that David was the proof that superhumans existed. Price goes by the name “Mr. Glass” because of him having a genius-level intellect and having bones as weak as glass. He lived life having to be vigilant and incapacitated for the most part. Price is the one that influenced David to become “The Overseer”, before leading on to his own acts of terrorism. During their session with Dr. Staple, “Mr. Glass” took an interest in trying to use his manipulation skills to influence David and Kevin to help all three of them escape the asylum.

Elijah failed to get David to get them out of the asylum, since he is the one that is mostly in his right mind. However, he took more of an interest in Kevin when he interrogated him and saw the Beast persona with his own eyes. This crossover film was one of the ones that included a team-up scene of the antagonists. Their plan to escape together and continue their acts of terrorism deemed successful. David made the immoral choice to do the same only so that he could stop them. Like any other super-heroic thrillers, Kevin and David hashed it out on a field while “Mr. Glass” coordinated it all like they were his spawns with a diabolical ending that includes twists and turns that you’d have to see to believe. 

Glass is an entertaining film that doesn’t miss a beat. It has its moments that drag throughout the film but the action sequences more than make up for that. The character development was remarkable and James McAvoy’s character was a delight to view with the various personalities that he had to portray. Glass receives 8 stars out of 10 stars.