Review of Glass (2019) by Tryasummersault — 20 Jan 2019

9.5/10 A spectacularly bizarre fusion of psychological intricacy, and signature clever plotting, M. Night crafts his tragic yet powerful magnum opus with this future classic; GLASS.

As the ultimate culmination of Unbreakable and Split, this film has already been insanely misunderstood and unfairly rated/reviewed by “ critics” and some average moviegoers alike. They seemed to have expected a fast paced superhero film without deep character study, and dedicated storytelling with heart which is what this film has in bunches. If anything this is the most realistic and grounded film about super humans/heroes/villains that we've ever seen with dramatic outcomes that don't fit the usual formula of so many superhero related films. Another reason Shymalan deserves tons of respect for swinging away ambitiously with his stories and overall vision knowing many won't understand it.

The film starts out with a marvelous opening sequence that throws us back into familiar territory with these intriguing characters and what they are up to presently, and sets the tone nicely with excitement. As things progress the film does slow down drastically to spend time on characterization and the story's overall emotional depth. When everything comes together for the conclusion, the pace picks up intensely to an absolutely mind blowing string of events that will leave people talking for ages to come. Shyamlan is known for clever twists and extremely crazy endings and this one might be his most effectively executed one yet and that says something.

On the acting spectrum, this showcases once again just how mind boggling and versatile James McAvoy's Kevin/Horde character is. His enthusiasm, dedication, and wide range execution is up there with some of the greatest and most legendary acting I've ever seen, and he was snubbed of an Oscar and most likely will be again. He deserves massive amounts of credit once again. Sam Jackson's Elijah Glass portrayal is fantastic as well and just as witty and eccentric as ever, though I wish we would've had more dialogue from him. Speaking of dialogue, one of my only gripes is just how underutilized Bruce Willis's David Dunn character was in the film. I felt like they could've really designated some more time to his character, and especially given him some more lines. He was still solid and his normal self, but wasn't around enough imo.

Presentation wise, this was classic M. Night with crisp camera work, colorful schemes, and creative angling. He clearly has a keen eye for setting up certain scenes and shots in a unique and brilliant manner and keeps the film visually intriguing throughout. The effects in the action sequences are relatively solid especially when you think of the practical and frugal budget, which makes it all the more impressive. The soundtrack perfectly blends the familiar sonic themes from the first 2 films and compliments the overall experience fantastically.

Overall I would say to go into this like its more of a psychological drama than a thriller, and to really stop and think just how grounded its identity really is with all of its emotional power and symbolic messages. I believe once people can do that eventually they will learn to love this film the way its intended to be.