GLASS

Release Date: Malaysia, 17 Jan 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Running Length: 2:09

Cast: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Screenplay: M. Night Shyamalan

GLASS serves as the final installment in Shyamalan's Eastrail 177 superhero universe where Unbreakable and Split exist. We see the return of David Dunn (Willis) and his "arch enemy" Elijah Prince aka Mr Glass (Jackson), as well as Kevin Wendell Crumb (McAvoy), the "villain" who has multiple personalities.    

While 2017's Split got better and better as the movie progressed (THAT hyperventilating brief moment at the very end...YAS!), Glass was a reverse experience for me. It started out strongly but ran out of gas mid-way. 

Eventhough Shyamalan said he already had an idea of how all these 3 main characters would exist when Unbreakable was conceptualized (that was 20+ years ago), this film felt like a rushed job with a mix of half-baked ideas. 

From a performance standpoint, many have praised McAvoy's acting. As good as he is here, his performance was "same-same" to me as he was in Split. There wasn't any additional layer(s) introduced to make his character more human. At times, he just came across as a caricature. 

The poorest performance to me was from Sarah Paulson. The whole time I was think if she was played by say, Jodie Foster (think Silence of the Lambs), this movie could have seriously leveled-up.

What bothered me about this film is also its excessive exposition. Characters in the movie will be illustrating out loud their intentions and motivations. 

That said, I enjoyed the slow-burn approach to such a genre (vs any other loud and CGI heavy superhero movies) as it gives its audience time to reflect and take it in. The signature Shyamalan twist was also serviceable, although some would argue it's a little tad too silly. 

In summary, Glass offers a tidy closure to these characters. It's watchable but an underwhelming conclusion. 

  

RATING: 6.5/10