Glass Movie Review: An Ok Film, But a Disappointing Sequel

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Glass is the sequel to M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable. And it follows David Dunn (Bruce Willis), as he uses his abilities to track down a superhuman known as The Beast. Who happens to be one of the 24 personalities that live within Kevin Wendel Crumb (James McAvoy) from the 2016 movie, Split.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!!!

The Good

Glass starts out strong, by catching fans and audiences up on the major events that have occurred in David’s life since Unbreakable.

Now functioning as the Vigilante known as “The Overseer,” David and his son Joseph (who acts as an Oracle to his Batman), patrol the streets trying to keep people safe.

But when Kevin’s personalities, (Patricia, Dennis, and Hedwig) kidnap a group of teenage girls and attempt to feed them to the Beast. David scours the streets, trying to find them. And this leads to the inevitable clash between the Hero and the Villain.

But this simple and grounded fight is short-lived, as both Kevin and David are captured and are then transferred to a psychiatric center, run by Dr. Ellie Staple. (Sarah Paulson). A psychiatrist who specializes in patients who believe themselves to be superheroes with supernatural abilities. And through the course of the movie, Dr. Staple attempts to convince both David and Kevin that they are normal people suffering from severe delusions.

To her credit, some of Dr. Staple’s arguments created a degree of reasonable doubt within her patients. But at no point did I, (or anyone else in my theater) ever believe that these guys were normal. mostly because either David or Kevin could have punched a wall down to prove her wrong.

However, it’s also at the center that we meet the mastermind behind the events of Unbreakable, Elijah Price, (Samuel L. Jackson) also known as Mr. Glass.

For the first half of Glass, Elijah doesn’t do much, as he’s in a vegetative state because of sedatives. But when he begins his plan to unveil superheroes to the world. He not only steals the show from Kevin but proves to be a far more interesting Lex Luthor than Jesse Eisenberg from 2016’s Batman vs Superman.

However, this is also where my major issues with Glass begin.

Related: M. Night Shyamalan Explains His Twist Ending To IGN

The Bad

One major issue I had with this film, is its poor and outdated method of executing Elijah’s master plan.
I mean releasing a video of two patients in a mental facility attacking employees, bending metal bars and lifting a car. Could be easily disregarded as another video about crazy people on the internet.
This is made even worse with the revelation of a secret society, who have decades of experience in suppressing super humans. And would easily discredit this video as a fake, that was edited for unnecessary attention. And at the end, Elijah would have died for nothing.

A more effective way to execute this plan would have been to Live-stream the fight between The Beast and The Overseer to every home and news station in the country. And then have this live event, (that no one can deny happened) inspire other super humans to come out.

But the one unforgivable sin that Glass commits, is how it ignores its supposed Hero David Dunn. While Mr. Glass doesn’t do much until he begins his master plan, he at least captures everyone’s attention once he starts.
Dunn gets even more screen time but does so little with it. And then to add insult to the injury, he’s then killed off in the most disgraceful way possible. When some random person who the audience doesn’t even see, drags him off and drowns him in a mud puddle.

AND HE’S THE HERO OF THE MOVIE.

Honestly the only character arc I enjoyed in Glass, was Kevin’s. But that was mostly because of James McAvoy’s Brilliant acting. And also because his character had a fitting end. (Unlike David)

Verdict