Glass is a movie that pretty much everyone who watched the movie Split has been waiting to see. In a world where very few things are kept a surprise the twist at the end of Split that it was set in the same universe as Unbreakable was mind-blowing. So it goes without saying that expectations are very high for Glass.
How to Stream or Download Glass
You can pre-order and then download the full movie from iTunes. To begin, click on the Download button below the review. And if you like superhero movies why not reach out for Captain America: The First Avenger or Venom.
The Film Review
Glass has a much harder released than the two that came before it. Granted, Unbreakable was following on from The Sixth Sense and people were in love with M. Night Shyamalan and his work so it did have buzz. Plus the subject matter of Split did get people talking so it had a little bit of hype behind it. Glass though is more anticipated than both those movies put together and that is always a hard thing for a movie to live up to.
Nearly 20 years have passed since we saw Bruce Willis’s David realize that he has superpowers and decide to use them for good. I have long wondered just what David would have gotten up to once he embraced what he was. Glass does a good job of telling us what David got up to and how he has developed not just as a vigilante, but also as a person over the years.
While the movie is called Glass, I felt that this movie was more about James McAvoy’s Kevin. Wow, what a performance this is from him. First of all, you have to give him a massive amount of respect for how jacked he got to be The Beast. But the way he plays the other characters and effortless switches between them is fantastic stuff.
In all honesty, I really do think that this performance should earn him an Oscar nomination, but I would be more surprised if that did happen than if it did not. Samuel. L Jacksons Mr. Glass is in an institute and we also learn how he has “developed” since the events of Unbreakable. This for me was actually one of the weaker parts of the movie as it was a bit of a letdown to see him in the state he is when we first see him again.
Smashing Unbreakable and Split together is done by Sarah Paulson who plays a character called Ellie Staples who is trying to understand what makes these people who think they are superheroes tick. This could have been more developed I felt and the movie tries to move at such a blistering pace you are often asking yourself why did this and that happen?
I think if just a little longer was spent with Ellie and we got more of her views and ideas it would have made the whole movie tighter. Glass features some great action set pieces and thanks to his more jacked up body The Beast is far more intimidating this time around. However, it often feels like the movie does not know if it wants to be a superhero movie or some kind of drama.
It tries to walk the fine line between both and I personally think it would have been better if just picked one and went for it. You know going in that this is an M. Night Shyamalan movie so that there is going to be something up with the ending. I did not hate it, but at the same time, it was a little underwhelming.
Glass is by no means a bad movie and it has some great ideas. It could have done with an extra half an hour or so to develop things just a tad more and I really think that M. Night Shyamalan would have knocked this one out of the park. I do still feel like it is worth a watch and I am interested to see if there is a director’s cut when it comes to DVD to see if he was forced to cut anything out for the theatrical release.
