FINALLY. The third and final part to the “Unbreakable” trilogy YEARS in the making has arrived; and, I found it to be nerve-wracking, jaw-dropping and entertaining to the attention-grabbing extent I was hoping for. If you recall, "Split" ends with “Beast” (played ever so magnificently by James McAvoy) still on the loose and David “Overseer” (played by the timeless Bruce Willis) seemingly poised to hunt him down.
Well, "Glass" picks up right where Split left off. Hedwig wastes no time in capturing Beast’s next meal and Overseer is hot on his trail. The first aspect of Glass that I fell absolutely head over heels with is the fact that we get more of a look into the life of one loved one of each of Beast, Overseer and Mr. Glass. This lends itself to the audience learning more about how each character’s unique relationship with his significant loved one affects him and basically drives his impulses (at least to some extent). Throughout the movie we get a deeper and deeper look into the life-altering moments that led these three characters to develop their abilities. However, Dr. Staple (played by another favorite of mine in Sarah Paulson) is introduced to the storyline as a psychiatrist whose life work has been discovering very rational explanations behind the supernatural acts the trio has exhibited.
The second thing I absolutely love about the film is the fact that McAvoy is allowed and actually PUSHED to absolutely shine by putting on display MULTIPLE identities that make up “the Horde” seemingly every time he’s on screen. Whereas in Split there is always some transition period between when one personality “comes to the light” and the next one does, in Glass, it seems as though every time McAvoy is on screen having a conversation, the audience sees him transform into a minimum of three to five different Horde identities from one sentence to the next. My jaw was literally left hanging EVERY single time McAvoy had any substantial dialogue and he juggles all of these identities so seamlessly on the big screen that it would be not only a travesty, but also a robbery, if he does not win MULTIPLE awards for his performance in this film.
More generally speaking, I feel the film also did a nice job of tying the three films together by use of multiple allusions to past incidences. In fact, there were moments in the film where I felt as though I was watching Unbreakable or Split, which speaks to the attention paid to not just using the two previous movies but actually building off of them. The real treat that keeps on giving is when two or all three of our “superheroes” engage directly with each other. Those are tangible moments where the entire history of this story pays dividends and the audience can feel like they’re being rewarded for investing its time in following along. While the film is just over two hours long, there aren’t more than a handful of scenes that seem to unnecessarily “linger,” as almost all of them serve a purpose, whether it’s to inform us about how the past has led us to where we are now or to set up what comes next. While there are things that might have worked to better set up the big “reveal” or “twist,” it still works as is and doesn’t necessarily detract from everything else the film does so well.
Glass might not be outright better than either of the two films before it; but, it might very well be the most easily enjoyable one, especially for younger audiences who probably had to watch the first film after watching Split, because of the more constant dialogue and action. Glass was an absolute blast to watch; and, easily gets 4 out of 5 MONSTER reps from this moviegoer. While waiting to watch this film at home was never an option for me, I would still recommend seeing it in theaters instead of waiting because McAvoy’s performance as well as the displays of supernatural strength deserve to be experienced on the big screen. You can thank me later.
Did Glass shatter your expectations? Were you as blown away by James McAvoy’s beastly performance as I was?
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