REVIEW | Glass (2019)

They always underestimate the mastermind.

There’s only one true hero around here — and that’s the unsung director, M. Night Shyamalan.

After being incarcerated for planning and carrying out mass murders. Intellectually-gifted, Elijah Price, and two other notorious patients suffering from delusions of real-life superheroes and villains are brought to an asylum by an ambitious psychiatrist to be treated. Provoking Elijah to encourage his fellow inmates to instead, embrace their alter-egos with him. Releasing Kevin Crumb’s superhuman being, The Beast; David Dunn’s invincibly strong Overseer; and the returning mastermind — Mr. Glass.

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*Minor spoilers for Glass ahead*

Alright, so it’s 2019 and as usual, we’ve got movies with high-octane superhero action filling every sequence, endearing characters with enough depth and humour attached to them, the absolute wildest VFX playground covering every inch of the screen, and production budgets enough to buy a small private island.

I am of course — NOT talking about Glass.

And yet despite all the absent familiarity of commercial comic book cinema, director M. Night Shyamalan has brought a phenomenal film about good versus evil to screen — with a more cerebral and realistic lens out of his wild and wonderful workshop. I mean considering his filmography, you just know the superhero complex is gonna be turned on its head with this one.

I’ll never forget that feeling of watching all the big-name superhero trailers playing back-to-back before the movie. And then sit through a more compelling and reinvigorating entry to the hyper-saturated genre —

—and the surprises don’t end there.

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For the sake of context — let’s say Marvel and DC represent the caricatures of people with superhuman abilities. And Glass is the Greek mural-equivalent that emphasises its tragedies, paints red with blood, and leverages on the beauty of unexaggerated reality. And typically I’m the type of viewer that actually holds those comic book titans in high regard (yes… including 2016’s Dawn of Justice).

With the Golden-age of superhero movies, this film is like a ripe orange in a season of apples — an orange that’s incredibly rich, unimaginably refreshing, and outstandingly unique. Compared to the heavyweight heroes, Glass does more than make a dent in the genre, and next to films as a whole — it’s more than an impressive Shyamalan picture.

And of course, when talking about realistic superhero movies, you can’t go without referencing Zack Snyder’s graphic novel film adaptation, Watchmen (2009). But as much as I praise it as a work of art (both on screen and in the pages), it still doesn’t have the rooted-reality that Glass placed all its chips on.

Instead of using superheroes as a narrative tool in delivering the vanilla-philosophy of being a hero. It drives a story that focuses so much more on Average Joes with supernatural abilities, and the after-effects of those gifts.

Which ultimately creates a channel for genuine degrees of empathy and intrigue, that helps you connect with insanely strong bald dudes — go figure.

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And when it comes to characters, you really can’t ask for more than this concentrated chemical combo of actors that’s delivering fish-out-of-water performances exclusively for this movie. Allow me to elaborate —

Whether it’s the fedora-wearing wiseguy in Hudson Hawk (1991), or the machinegun-toting John McClane in Die Hard (1988). It’s always a good time when you have Bruce Willis attached to a promising project like this. I can’t even begin to tell you how delightful it is to watch him return to the spotlight from his mid-shelf, low-profile action movies.

And speaking of mid-shelf performances — who better to stir shit up in a dormant franchise other than Sam “Mother-F**kin” Jackson as Mr. Glass?

No seriously, despite making a name for himself as an actor that… well… plays himself most of the time. Glass has him revisiting a role from his early-years of acting and places his character in a refreshing new light. And this is all done while he’s in a wheelchair, mind you.

Also not forgetting the other two-dozen leading roles played — singlehandedly — by James McAvoy… that madman. I mean to top an already-awesome performance of bringing The Beast to life, he still has the space to disappear into his character(s) for some outstanding and tastefully over-the-top acting, at a thousand personas per minute.

Honestly, this movie is worth your ticket if it were just McAvoy’s one-man marching band performance, or his monstrous counterpart bursting through the screen.

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Of course, considering that this is a movie that ties-in with the characters from Unbreakable (2000) and the more recent Split (2016). I will say that your viewing experience will be considerably diluted If you’ve yet to catch those movies that lead-up to this instalment.

BUT — if you’ve been initiated by Shyamalan’s blend of ‘superhero’ movies, then this film is the knockout-punch to the multi-decade series you never knew you needed. And to think that in today’s climate for movies, Unbreakable would’ve been a colossal bomb after being chewed-up by its more colourful comic book competitors — had it been made in the 2010s.

Just like the then-failure (now modern cult-classic) Blade Runner (1982) when it was released after The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

This movie — no, this franchise — is a reminder that when you give a visionary like Shyamalan any word from the dictionary (like ‘superpower’), he’ll have the furthest thing imaginable in mind, but delivered in a masterful manner.

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While the battle for superhero-supremacy of cinema rages on among the stars between the comic book titans. Glass rises from the earth and moves mountains with an incredible story, engaging cinematography, unconventional action, and some gloriously ferocious choreography.

It may be half the spectacle of the esteemed Infinity War (2018) and close to double that decade it took to reach here. But by God — this comic book-inspired effort is unlike anything you’ve ever seen.

Similar to how the Sistine Chapel took years to complete, this film leaves a fantastic mark to a multi-movie masterpiece that unintentionally began nearly 20-years ago. And for a director that’s all about the conclusions, it’s an absolutely fantastic sign-off to Shyamalan’s first ever trilogy.

It’s a movie that will truly make you Believe —

— etcetera.