Cracked, But Not Broken - Glass
Say what you want about M. Night Shyamalan’s movies, but they will at least be interesting. Generally, even when they are weighed down by stilted dialogue and stupid concepts, there is at least an interesting angle. Such is the case with Glass. This is not “Good Shyamalan.” It is well below The Sixth Sense and not on par with Unbreakable and Split either. Instead, it’s a barely worthwhile attempt to extend the universe he created in its predecessors. But it’s interesting. Just interesting enough that there are as many good things to say about it as bad.
Photo Courtesy of Universal Pictures
In the previous films, we learned that each of the characters possess superhuman abilities that make them believe that they are superhero comic book characters. The movie opens following the events of Split, where “The Horde” (played by James McAvoy) has again abducted a group of young girls. Meanwhile, David Dunn (played by Bruce Willis), who was the sole survivor of a tragic train crash, has taken to fighting crime on the streets of Philadelphia. The movie opens with him trying to track down “The Horde” while also evading the police. When “The Horde” and David Dunn are captured, they are sent to a mental institution to convince them that they are not superheroes.
While in the mental institution, David Dunn is reunited with Elijah Price (played by Samuel L. Jackson) from Unbreakable, who originally convinced him he had superpowers. Once he sees that “The Horde” also has powers, Elijah becomes more convinced than ever that the world needs to recognize superheroes and super-villains. The trio are treated by Dr. Elie Staple (played by Sarah Paulson), whose specialty is treating people who believe they are superheroes. But when Elijah decides to break them all out and pit “The Horde” against David Dunn where everyone could see, Dr. Staple must act before it’s too late.
The idea of a superhero origin story and confrontation taking place in a world that looks very much like our own is nothing new. After all, many comic book franchises have explored the political implications of people with super powers and what our response would be. But what’s novel about Glass is its ability to walk the line without deciding one way or another whether the powers are real. If Shyamalan could stop there, hand the idea to a more able screenwriter and just focus on directing, this could have been a solid production. Instead, he wrote every bit of painfully overwrought dialogue. The result is a film you are rooting for to get out of its own way. It never does.
Instead, there are any number of decisions that don’t make sense. For instance, Elijah is silent for what feels like two thirds of the movie. Given that it’s Samuel L. Jackson you are muting, it seems like the wrong choice. And though hamstrung by the words they are saying, the performances are the strongest element. You again have James McAvoy doing the herculean task of playing any number of characters inside a single body, and Bruce Willis’ brooding take on David Dunn works next to Sam Jackson’s maniacal Elijah.
As far as the arc of the story, this film is like many of Shyamalan’s attempts. It starts out in a place where you are all in and winds up not being able to keep that same energy as the climax is less than climactic and the drama is less than dramatic. But for all the other ‘cracks’ in it, uninteresting isn’t one of them.
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