Glass Movie Review

Glass premiered this year in 2019 and has become a financial success. It belongs to the Eastrail 177 trilogy. Its predecessors are Unbreakable and Split, which both did an amazing job of creating humans with meta powers in a realistic and different light than usual. Darker and more serious than typical superhero movies, the trilogy shows a different side to powers in general. With the famous director M. Night Shyamalan presenting his typical twist at the end, it actually weakens and rushes the story leading for the movie to be only decent and to some fans even disappointing.

The movie starts with Kevin Wendell Crumb (The Horde) and David Dunn meeting up as they both ensue in a fight, eventually leading them to be caught by the police. Placed in a mental institution, they both meet with Elijah Price, the archenemy of David, and meet with the head doctor of the place. Dr. Staple plans to convince the trio that they do not possess powers and that it is all in their head. As the movie progresses, David and The Horde both fight each other and it ultimately leads to their deaths as Staple’s guards hunt them down and kill off Elijah. Both David dies, however, it is revealed that Dr. Staple was part of a group all along that ordered her to carry out a mission to keep their powers hidden from the world. Elijah manages to show the footage to the world before he died and the world now knows that powers are real and metahumans exist.

The movie has a well-known cast and amazing predecessors. The two movies before contained strong characters in Unbreakable and Split.

Glass has many events going on with very little time, feeling fast-paced towards the end of the conclusion. Since the film takes place in only one location, characterization is limited and the world of Eastrail 177 is not expanded. Although viewers get strong characterization in Unbreakable and Split, it doesn’t happen in this movie. As the three main characters collide, there is very little depth.

As a thriller movie, Shyamalan tries to present his typical twist at the end yet it makes the trilogy weaker. The ending where the three characters died off felt too soon. The strong characters presented had the potential for more complex storylines to come but their deaths felt like they were for the sake of Shyamalan and didn’t do justice to the audience or the series.

           The story could have been stronger if there were more obstacles and stakes, unfortunately. The narrative introduced characters whose relationship could have been expanded further rather just present one reason for The Horde and the Overseer to fight. Although it has interesting concepts, it lacks a stronger storyline. The acting and cast were incredibly strong. It mainly centers around the three, with more focus on The Beast, and the acting did not miss a beat. However, their relationships toward each other felt quick and haste. The music and cinematography are fairly average although they were not the weak points of the film.

If given more time and revision, the movie would have improved. With the fast-paced storyline, it felt out of place compared to the previous two movies. However, it is a great action movie with amazing fighting sequences and great actors.