Movie review: M. Night Shyamalan‘s ‘Glass’ barely hits the mark

Paradise Thomas
Wed, 23 Jan 2019 01:07:37 +0000
Arts & Life, Movies, News, Opinion, acting, bruce willis, eastrail 177, fantasy, glass, m. night shyamalan, movie, movie review, new movie, review, samuel l jackson, sarah paulson, split, superhuman, trilogy, unbreakable

James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy in “Glass.” Credit: Courtesy of TNS

The movie “Glass” tells a story about three men who believe they are superhuman. This movie is a part of the “Eastrail 177 Trilogy” including “Unbreakable” and “Split,” all of which are directed and written by M. Night Shyamalan.

The film centers on Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy) and David Dunn (Bruce Willis), and their journey in a psychiatric hospital. The movie explores the origin of each man and what makes them believe they are superhuman.

The acting in this movie is incredible. McAvoy, who reprised his role from “Split,” as a man suffering from dissociative identity disorder, showed an incredible range of skill.

McAvoy played 20 different personalities throughout the duration of the film, with Patricia, Denise, Hedwig, Kevin and The Beast being the main identities. In one scene, McAvoy switches between several different characters in the span of a few minutes, and the flawless transitions let his talent shine.

Willis reprises his role as David Dunn from the 2000 film “Unbreakable,” and gave a great performance with some really cool action scenes. Jackson’s role as Mr. Glass was really interesting, because for a fairly large part of the movie he didn’t speak, but still managed to exude a creepy aura. When he did begin to speak it was interesting to watch.

Sarah Paulson gave a compelling performance as Dr. Ellie Staple — she was incredibly stiff and sterile, which suits the character well.

The movie’s storyline was interesting, but there were several scenes that made the plot cringeworthy, specifically some of the fight scenes, which implemented first-person camerawork in an attempt to add intensity.

The movie attempted to mix fantasy with drama and realistic fiction, which sometimes made it a very confusing and awkward watch. The two aspects did not mesh well, but there were redeeming qualities of the film, including the concept and plot.

Also, the 19-year period between the beginning of the trilogy, “Unbreakable,” and the finale, “Glass,” made it harder to tie the entire plot of the series together.

Overall, the movie was really held together by the performances, with McAvoy’s highlighting the film. Although it was confusing and at times awkward to watch, it was still a pretty good film. The concept of the film is really cool but it just didn’t have an amazing execution.

3.5/5