Genre: Drama
Related Titles: Unbreakable, Split, The Sixth Sense, The Village
By Leanne Harragan
David Dunn searches for Kevin Wendell Crumb to find out more about his superhuman persona "The Beast." All the while Elijah Price, known as Mr. Glass is discovered to be the key that connects both men.
Split is the third part of M.Night Shyamalan's comic book trilogy. Unbreakable came out almost 20 years ago, a solidly devised film that introduced audiences to the idea that anyone could be a superhero they just needed a push in the right direction. That push was brought by Mr.Glass (Samuel L.Jackson) and triggered the awakening of David Dunn's superpower...he was unbreakable. Jump forward 17 years and Split was released, James McAvoy gave a brilliant performance as Kevin, a man with at least 23 different personalities living inside him. As time goes on, the stronger personalities take over and release an inhuman creature 'The Beast.' Glass joins both of these films together and ties off the trilogy somewhat sloppily.
Immediately the film opens with David Dunn getting payback on happy slappers, low level thieves and just generally being the unbeatable neighbourhood watch guy really (kinda like Willis' role in last years remake of Death Wish!) Set just a few weeks after the end Split, Kevin is at it again with teenage girls going missing, Dunn and his son are set on finding them and this is where it all kicks off. Dunn and Kevin are captured and transported to psychiatric unit, where Dr. Staple has three days to break their superhero beliefs.
The whole plot of this trilogy is solid, the idea that superheroes are everyday people and have been since the dawn of time is pretty interesting. I also like the idea that all the superheros are continually covered up by a sort of Illuminati-esque organisation. However, the plot of this film is a tad lacking, it's mostly made up of the main three (Dunn, Kevin and Glass) being questioned, locked up and questioned again, with the occasional visitor to their rooms.
What truly carries this film is McAvoy, his performance as Kevin is incredible, just like in Split, the way he switches from personality to personality at times seems effortless and other times seems like the most difficult thing in the world. It's not just his name that changes when a new personality 'enters the light', it's his mannerisms, his outfits, his accents and their backstories, it's a whole host of things that make the personality. Willis is fine, playing dark and somewhat brooding Dunn, it's not his best performance but he does what he can with this kind of so-so, boring character. Sarah Paulson was a nice addition to the cast giving a good performance as Dr. Staple.
There's some good visuals used, one that I particularly liked was the use of a puddle as a reflective surface to show what was happened from the upside down effect. I also liked the use of video camera footage that occasionally featured. When there was action, it was fast-paced and fairly easy to follow. In terms of sets, it's pretty limited with most of film being set in one place, it was however well designed to fit the needs each and the pastel pink therapy room was a particular highlight of mine.
While Glass is certainly the weakest of the three and ties everything together sloppily, it does still tie everything together. There's two biggish reveals towards the end, neither are especially great but they do the job and wind everything up. While you don't necessarily need to have seen the others, it certainly helps to really understand the back story going on. If you've seen the previous two, or enjoy superheroes you'll find something I'm sure.
Rating: 6/10
By Rebecca Mannick
There was a lot of hype surrounding this trilogy ending however it did not live up to it at all. M Night Shyamalan I feel indulged himself too much and it ended of being a mediocre story all building up to one main event at the end of the film. As seen in the trailer 'The Beast' and David Dunn get captured and held in a 'mental hospital' to prove and make them believe that they do not have superhuman strength. Sarah Paulson plays Dr Ellie Staple who's motives are unclear to why she is heading up this 'experiment'. Mr Glass is also being held under supervision who is David Dunn's arch enemy.
What made this movie so frustrating was the lack of story and meaningful dialogue. It seems to me that there was idea of the basic plot and then the other details were added in with no real reasoning but just to fill out the running time a little bit. Also the script for Ellie Staple was honestly terrible, I found it really basic and lacking any sort of drive or intelligent content. One of Glass' saving grace was James McAvoy's performance as Kevin Wendell Crumb/ The Beast/ Patricia/ Dennis/ Etc etc. The way he is able to switch from character to character in a single scene is really something else. Each character is distinguishably different, with accents and physical movements, even mannerisms its quite unbelievable the skill and precision of the acting. It really reminds me of Tatiana Maslany in 'Orphan Black' with all her different characters.
In terms of a climatical trilogy ending it really doesn't live up to expectations. However there are a few good performances and interesting plot lines, especially with Kevin and Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy). Casey's character is used as a decoy into luring Kevin out. She has a connection with him that no one else does and its really sweet seeing Kevin's true self. If I was to describe Glass in one word it would be disappointing.
Rating: 6/10
By Rebecca Mannick
There was a lot of hype surrounding this trilogy ending however it did not live up to it at all. M Night Shyamalan I feel indulged himself too much and it ended of being a mediocre story all building up to one main event at the end of the film. As seen in the trailer 'The Beast' and David Dunn get captured and held in a 'mental hospital' to prove and make them believe that they do not have superhuman strength. Sarah Paulson plays Dr Ellie Staple who's motives are unclear to why she is heading up this 'experiment'. Mr Glass is also being held under supervision who is David Dunn's arch enemy.
What made this movie so frustrating was the lack of story and meaningful dialogue. It seems to me that there was idea of the basic plot and then the other details were added in with no real reasoning but just to fill out the running time a little bit. Also the script for Ellie Staple was honestly terrible, I found it really basic and lacking any sort of drive or intelligent content. One of Glass' saving grace was James McAvoy's performance as Kevin Wendell Crumb/ The Beast/ Patricia/ Dennis/ Etc etc. The way he is able to switch from character to character in a single scene is really something else. Each character is distinguishably different, with accents and physical movements, even mannerisms its quite unbelievable the skill and precision of the acting. It really reminds me of Tatiana Maslany in 'Orphan Black' with all her different characters.
In terms of a climatical trilogy ending it really doesn't live up to expectations. However there are a few good performances and interesting plot lines, especially with Kevin and Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy). Casey's character is used as a decoy into luring Kevin out. She has a connection with him that no one else does and its really sweet seeing Kevin's true self. If I was to describe Glass in one word it would be disappointing.
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