Before the acquisition of Marvel Studios, there were very few bonafide superheroes in the Disney catalogue. It wasn’t until M. Night Shyamalan’s 2000 ode to comic book culture, Unbreakable, that Disney (via it’s Touchstone Films Division) had a real super powered hero in the Bruce Willis’s David Dunn. Flash forward 17 years to Universal’s psychological horror film Split that anyone remotely thought that there would be a continuation of David Dunn’s story. As another of Shyamalan’s famous (or infamous) inevitable twists, the character appeared in final credits scene. Since the release there has been a quiet build-up of anticipation for a completion of the trilogy. That anticipation comes to an end with Glass.
The film picks up in the events following Split where James McAvoy’s character Kevin Crumb has been taken over by multiple personalities who collectively refer to themselves as The Horde, led by the animalistic personality known as The Beast. Dunn and The Beast confront each other in the first act which is suprising being that the matchup of the two superpowered characters is the main selling point for the film. Both are arrested during the fight and are sent to a psychiatric hospital under the care of Sarah Paulson’s Dr. Staple who specializes in treating individuals who view themselves as comic book characters. Also at the hospital is Unbreakable’s criminal mastermind Elijah Price, played by Samuel L. Jackson. Price is also known as Mr. Glass due to his brittle bone disease. A Dunn/ Glass reunion is something audiences were looking forward too, but proves to be uneventful being that Price is catatonic for two-thirds of the film.
There is a cast of forgettable supporting characters from the prior films: Dunn’s son, Elijah’s mother, and the lone survivor, and now Stockholm Syndrome girlfriend of the cannibalistic Beast. These characters do little to advance the story. Speaking of “story”, M. Night Shyamalan’s knack for using narratives to take the audience down divergent paths is present, but doesn’t pack the punch it did in The Sixth Sense or even Unbreakable, itself a love letter to comic book fans.
The plotlines of life imitating comic book art was ground breaking back in pre-MCU 2000. Now audiences are well accustomed to comic book story arcs and troupes. And that fact itself is what hobbles Glass from telling the story it is trying to tell. Shyamalan still feels the need to utilize exposition to inform the audience of something it already knows too well. The film is far from a bust. The action sequences are thrillingly choreographed, especially when we see Dunn and The Beast face-off in evenly matched battles with no apparent CG enhancements. McAvoy transitions between Crum’s multiple personalities fluidly, even adding a few new ones. It is unfortunate that The Beast personality dominates the majority of screen time, but this isn’t Split. The score was disjointed, building to a crescendo at odd points in a few scenes, dampening the tension. There is ample enough fan service, especially when Glass and Dunn slip into their familiar costumes. And, of course the obligatory cameo by Shyamalan, which generates a few chuckles. The “big twist” at the end is basically just there.
The film does represent a unique partnership between two rival studios, with Universal handling the domestic distribution, and Disney the international. Maybe we will see a Split scare house at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights. Here’s hoping we don’t get a David Dunn Stunt Spectacular at Disney Studios. Glass is a fairly solid and fun superhero film that doesn’t quiet resonate as relevant in a world full of Avengers and Aquamen. It’s not a bad film, it’s just 19 years too late.
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