[Review] Glass (6.5/10)

Title - Glass
Studio - Universal Pictures
Starring - James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson
Writer - M. Night Shyamalan
Director - M. Night Shyamalan
Release - 18 January 2019

The culmination of Unbreakable and Split, Glass saw the tying up of both stories here, not without its issues.

The actors are all back and all delivered competent to beautiful performances. James McAvoy again astonished with even more characters this time, though not as indepth as in Split. Samuel L. Jackson and Sarah Paulson always deliver to the best of their abilities. Even Bruce Willis was edited to make you believe he could act again, and this here is kudos to M. Night Shyamalan for giving us a competent Willis. (A flashback scene also proved just how great Willis used to be.)

The secondary cast saw the return of Spencer Treat Clark and Charlayne Woodard, playing Willis' son and Jackson's mother respectively. But when Anya Taylor-Joy entered into the frame, they were immediately out-acted.

In true Shyamalan fashion, he made a cameo as well here. And before going into the movie, I was already wondering how would he cameo in this one without referring to his cameos in Split and Unbreakable. He actually managed to sort that one out very nicely. And it was one of the funniest moment, too.

However, in tying up all stories, Shyamalan's writing felt a little forced in parts. And hence, it seemed like there were a lot of plot holes here and there. One was the hospital or institution where most of the story took place. We never saw how many people worked here or hospitalized throughout the entire second act. But towards the end, a lot more people suddenly appeared.

And if we were talking about just that one wing where the "disillusioned" were held, the security should have been tighter and should recognized all staffing personnel there. There was no way anyone could sneak past.

But in the end, we found out Paulson's character's intention; and perhaps that would have explained some loopholes in the middle, though I would need to have a second viewing just to check.

I thought the movie ran a little bit too long. Again, as in the case of Split, there was a scene involving the psychiatrist's neighbour which was not necessary. Here, we had one too many comic book store scenes.

Some scenes in the second act also didn't feel like they pushed the narrative of the movie. There were moments that lost my interest for a bit before picking up again in the following scene.

There was also one too many flashbacks, like the one with a young Mr. Glass going on a precarious looking ride. I understand that this is for those who have not seen Unbreakable (recently), but to me, it was draggy and not inline with his character who was already afraid of breaking his bones.

In the final fight, there were just too many characters for us to keep track. Or for Shyamalan, for that matter. That whole section felt very incomplete as the whole thing felt like it got too big for the director to handle.

But with the understanding of the story's end, would a second watch be beneficial to the movie or would it bore even more. Only another sit-through would confirm.