If you saw Unbreakable and Split, you should watch Glass – if only to see the final third of the story. While Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson again deliver strong performances, it’s James McAvoy who steals the movie. The story excels in the setup but unfortunately doesn’t deliver in the final act.
Glass is a sequel to both M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016). This review will feature spoilers for the two preceding films but will not reveal any of the twists or surprises found in Glass. If Unbreakable was a drama and Split was a thriller, then Glass attempts to fall under the drama, thriller, action, and comic book genres.
Returning from Unbreakable are cast members Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Spencer Treat Clark, and Charlayne Woodard. Back from Split are James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy. New to the story are cast members Sarah Paulson, Luke Kirby, and Adam David Thompson.
In Unbreakable, we meet Bruce Willis’ David Dunn. After walking away from a horrific train accident in which he was the only survivor, Dunn and his son, Joseph (Clark) begin to suspect that Dunn has super strength. They meet Elijah Price (Jackson), a man born with a condition called Osteogenesis Imperfecta that causes his bones to be as frail and breakable as glass. With Price’s encouragement, Dunn begins to accept that he may be the kind of real-life person comic book characters are based on; however, every superhero has a mortal enemy he must face.
James McAvoy takes the lead in Split as Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man who suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder and has developed 23 personalities over the course of his life. Many of the personalities, like fashion designer Barry, are harmless; however, several of them including OCD Dennis, faithful and stoic Patricia, and naïve Hedwig are preparing for the arrival of the 24th identity – a superhuman creature known as The Beast. Casey Cooke (Taylor-Joy) is one of the girls kidnapped as an offering for The Beast.
Glass runs 129 minutes. Check out Universal’s official description:
“M. Night Shyamalan brings together two of his standout original films – Unbreakable and Split – in this explosive, all-new comic book thriller. Elijah Price, also known as Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson), finds David Dunn (Bruce Willis) pursuing Kevin Wendell Crumb’s superhuman figure, The Beast (James McAvoy), in a series of escalating encounters. Price, armed with secrets critical to both men, emerges as a shadowy orchestrator.”
Glass opens with Patricia and Dennis arguing over their plans. Dennis is not comfortable with the violence anymore, but Patricia urges him to trust her and believe in The Beast. She then asks the four cheerleaders they’ve kidnapped as new offerings for the Beast if any of them would like a PB&J.
David Dunn, now known in the papers and online as the “Overseer” is tracking petty criminals with the help of his son, Joseph (Clark). It’s been three weeks since the events seen in Split took place. Even though the police are searching for the Overseer, Dunn won’t rest until he finds and stops Kevin Wendell Crumb, now known as The Horde.
Dunn’s search doesn’t take long. After bumping into Hedwig while on a walk, Dunn realizes that The Horde has a new set of victims and attempts to save them. He is confronted by The Beast. Their battle, one of the movie’s few big action scenes, is interrupted by Dr. Ellie Staple (Paulson) and her team. She flashes a light machine that causes Barry to emerge in place of The Beast. Dr. Staple also addresses Dunn by name.
Dunn and The Horde are taken to Raven Hill Memorial – the primary location for most of the film’s story. Dr. Staple explains that she has recently been brought in due to her specialty in treating illusions of grandeur, a condition from which she believes both Dunn and Crumb suffer. Special rooms have been designed for each patient. Crumb and The Horde are placed in a room with the light machine, while Dunn’s room features sprinklers to control him through water (his weakness).
The audience quickly learns that Dr. Staple is treating another patient named Elijah Price (Jackson), aka Mr. Glass. Though she doesn’t approve, Price has been heavily sedated to keep him from outsmarting his caretakers. Jackson’s face isn’t seen on screen until 29 minutes into the movie, and it’s another thirty after that until he first speaks. But if Unbreakable told David Dunn’s story and Split was about The Horde, then Glass is really the story of Elijah Price.
The movie’s most memorable scene is the first time all three of the main characters appear on screen together about halfway through the story. Dr. Staple gathers her patients and begins to explain her theories and concerns about each one of them. Is it possible that Dunn is simply a gifted mentalist when it comes to reading people? Could The Beast be no more than a highly skilled athlete? What if Price is just intelligent, but not a super genius? Dr. Staple presents evidence to support each of her theories. The scene is just shy of ten minutes in length but doesn’t feel too long or stall the pace of the story.
One of the movie’s biggest strengths is its cast. While Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson again deliver strong performances, it’s James McAvoy who steals the movie. Each of Kevin Wendell Crumb’s 24 personalities has been thoughtfully crafted and developed. Lead personalities Patricia, Dennis, Hedwig, and Barry return, but McAvoy gets to introduce several new ones due to the trigger of the light machine. Each transition he makes is flawless, and each personality is distinct in voice, accent, mannerisms, and style.
Remarkably, McAvoy also gets to display character development in several of the lead personalities. While Dennis questions his role in the violence demanded by The Beast, Patricia begins to doubt not only The Beast but also herself thanks to Dr. Staple’s questions. Hedwig, who is seen skating around the cheerleaders and talking about his girlfriend in one of the movie’s most entertaining scenes, begins to realize that being a nine-year-old forever may not be as cool as he thought it was.
And speaking of Hedwig’s “girlfriend,” Casey (Taylor-Joy), after hearing of The Horde’s capture, visits Raven Hill Memorial and asks Dr. Staple if she can visit Crumb. Dunn’s son, Joseph, and Price’s mother (Woodard) also come to visit and speak with Dr. Staple. It’s nice to see all six characters introduced in the previous films played by the same actors. Even the comic book store owner introduced briefly in Unbreakable returns. Shyamalan also makes a cameo.
Glass also excels in its comic book themes and motifs. Shyamalan continues the color scheme first introduced in Unbreakable. Dunn, the “superhero,” is frequently associated with the color green and wears a waterproof green poncho as his costume. Mr. Glass, who sees himself as a villainous mastermind, is seen in purple. The Horde frequently wear shades of yellow and mustard. Shyamalan made this choice to emphasize The Beast’s vision of himself as a religious figure. For more on the color scheme and meanings, see “Glass Decoded” in the Bonus Features. Shyamalan intentionally selected bold colors, but as the characters begin to doubt themselves and their abilities, those colors become more muted and dull. It’s a visual look that works well for the movie and helps to tell the story.
On the other hand, the biggest flaw of the movie is in it’s final act. The movie does a fantastic job setting up a big finale, but it doesn’t deliver. As one character notes, the final scene should be the big showdown in which all the main characters are present and the powers are revealed. Here, though, the final scene feels rushed and out of place with the rest of the narrative. There are a few standard Shyamalan twists (some of which are a bit predictable) but none that are particularly memorable. It’s an entertaining movie with an unsatisfying conclusion.
Blu-ray
The transfer to Blu-ray quality isn’t bad. There is one shot of a table being thrown at a character that looks a bit more animated with the Blu-ray enhancement, but overall, the upgrade works well with Shyamalan’s preference to blend practical and special effects.
Discs
Disc 1 – 4K Ultra HD Movie + Bonus Features
Disc 2 – Blu-Ray Movie + Bonus Features
Bonus Features
This release includes over an hour of bonus features that look at the characters, cast, crew, locations, music, and special effects of Glass. In many, Shyamalan discusses the challenges of writing a sequel and trying to place comic book characters in the real world.
• Alternate Opening & Deleted Scenes (with Introductions by M. Night Shyamalan) – Shyamalan discusses another way the movie could have opened. He says he cut over an hour of material that slowed down the overall plot and pace of the movie. Some of that material is included here:
o Alternate Opening (2:57)
o Deleted Scenes (24:53 total) –
- David Alone at Bar
- Patricia Talks to Cheerleaders
- David Encounters Pierce
- Casey in Art Class
- Dr. Staple Explains Machine
- Mrs. Price in Waiting Room
- Mrs. Price Talks to Elijah
- Dr. Staple Drinks Tea
- Pierce Checks Elijah’s Room
- Mrs. Price Tells Elijah About Surgery
- David Submits to Dr. Staple
- Patients Worship the Beast
• The Collection of Main Characters (8:43 total) – The cast discuss the main characters and their relation to the first two movies.
- David Dunn
- Elijah Price
- Kevin Wendell Crumb
- The Rest of the Family
• A Conversation With James McAvoy And M. Night Shyamalan (5:10) – The two discuss working together again, developing a comic/thriller/drama, and the design of new personalities seen in the Horde for this movie.
• Bringing The Team Back Together (2:54) – Shyamalan gets the “family” of cast and crew back together to make Glass.
• David Dunn Vs. The Beast (2:11) – The cast and crew discuss filming large fight scenes at a tenth of the budget of most superhero movies.
• Glass Decoded – (2:52) Shyamalan talks about using the same props nineteen years after Unbreakable and the use of bold colors to depict elements from comic books.
• Breaking Glass: The Stunts (1:28) – This feature talks about the movie’s main stunts and the limited use of body doubles.
• Connecting the Glass Universe (2:54) – While the characters remain the same, all three films have a distinct visual look and specific style of storytelling.
• M. Night Shyamalan: Beyond the Lens (2:46) – The cast and crew talk about Shyamalan’s approach to writing and directing, and Shyamalan talks about the stress.
• The Sound of Glass (1:50) – Composer West Dylan Thordson talks about playing music on set to find the right sounds and energy for the movie.
• Enhancing the Spectacle (2:53) – This feature talks about the movie’s balance of special and practical effects.
• Raven Hill Memorial (2:16) – The crew discusses the movie’s main location. They found an abandoned mental hospital that once cared for two thousand patients. Even Samuel L. Jackson thought the building was creepy!
• Night Vision (1:56) – Storyboard artist Brick Mason talks about the similarities of comic books and movies.
Takeaway
If you saw Unbreakable and Split, you should watch Glass – if only to see the final third of the story. While Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson again deliver strong performances, it’s James McAvoy who steals the movie. Each personality is again well-crafted, well-acted, and distinct. The movie itself, though entertaining, suffers from a disappointing conclusion. It excels in the setup but unfortunately doesn’t deliver in the final act.
