Glass: Review

Nineteen years in the making - Glass completes M. Night Shyamalan's realistic superhero trilogy. Although The Sixth Sense is far and away his best work - when it all stacks up, Shyamalan is better known for his career misfires rather than his handful of (albeit amazing) hits. That being said, Unbreakable and Split fall into the latter. David Dunn (Bruce Willis) better known as The Overseer, uses his abilities to track Kevin Wendlell Crumb (James McAvoy) - a Dissociative Identity Disorder sufferer with twenty four different personalities. The two super-humans soon find themselves detained in a mental institution however, alongside the meticulous Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson).

Glass shatters expectations. Although it may leave some fans split, Shyamalan concludes his thriller trilogy with a scheming and well realised final chapter. Bolstered by a trio of incredibly compelling and fleshed out characters - Glass turns down the Superman dial and questions what would it be like for superheroes to exist unseen in the real world. He softens all that bombastic and fantastical Marvel noise in his realistic take on super-humans; the special effects are kept to a minimum and the story is surprisingly subtle and deliberate. Like the villain of this tightly strung tale - Shyamalan's career is varying and unpredictable, luckily for us however Glass comes from the hit or miss director's good side. 

Willis, McAvoy and Jackson are electric.  McAvoy really out does himself once again, turning in twenty three different performances - however in this instalment we can see a lot more of his pain as Kevin. Willis - who has the least screen time of the bunch - continues his role as the noble, outside the law Overseer. Nevertheless, Jackson is not just the mastermind of the narrative but the centre of the entire feature itself -  a very unusual and quiet turn for the actor, his performance is as delicate as Mister Glass's bones but also as razor sharp as his brain. 

The chemistry between these three fizzles from the moment David locks horns with Kevin; they are all distinctly different but ultimately face the same threat: Sarah Paulson's Nurse Ratched inspired Dr. Ellie Staple. Glass is all about the supersession of supernatural phenomenon, with the three title characters suffocated by the their own so called "insanity". 

Somewhere in some undisclosed location there is a vault full of ideas for twist endings - but it wouldn't take an Elijah Price's brilliant mind to figure out which studio office I'm referencing. For some reason fans seem enraged by the film's ending, but compared to his previous work the climax of Glass works very well. Shyamalan wraps up his realistic superhero trilogy with style, nuance and slow burning intention - there is little spectacular action for a reason, but seems some people might have been expecting more.  

Glass:

Good