MOVIE REVIEW: GLASS
MOVIE REVIEW: GLASS
Written & Directed by M Night Shyamalan
Starring Bruce Willis, James McAvoy, Samuel L Jackson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
76%
Back in the good graces of the studio system, M Night Shyamalan throws everything he has at this sequel to not one but two of his greatest films.
David Dunn (Bruce Willis) returns from Unbreakable, now prowling the streets with help from son Joseph and using his superpowers to protect innocent people from psychos, when he gets a vision of kidnapped girls after brushing past James McAvoy’s Kevin Wendall Crumb, last seen in the schizophrenic thriller Split.
Crumb is close to summoning The Beast, the most disturbed and super-powered of his alternate personalities, and a showdown between he and Dunn is an early highlight. McAvoy’s performance as twenty different personalities of The Horde inside him is a head spinning tour de force performance.
Both are captured by police and taken to a secure facility, where Elijah Price – Mr Glass – played by Samuel L Jackson is also being held. Enter Sarah Paulson’s Dr Ellie Staple, a cynical researcher trying to get the trio to admit they are normal and not super.
Light on action but heavy on suspense and psychological chills, with plenty of sly comic book world celebration and skewering from Shyamalan, Glass may be confusing to anyone who hasn’t seen either of its predecessors.
Shyamalan handles the material skillfully right up to the final act, when a surprising twist appears out of the blue which is clumsy and unsuitable. The trio have their final stand-off to great effect, but revelations concerning Dr Staple simply don’t gel and let the rest of the film down.
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Category: Movie & Theatre Reviews