Glass - review

by Alba Lopes Da Silva

3/5

Marvel and DC keep bombarding us with an incessant succession of superhero movies – sequels, prequels and origin stories seem to take up the whole box-office. Glass is no different. Nineteen years after Unbreakable and two years after the highly acclaimed Split, director M. Night Shyamalan presents us with the final opus to his trilogy. However, despite being another superhero movie, Glass distinguishes itself through its realism and the plot-twists that only M. Night Shyamalan is able to design.

Glass is a slow-paced movie, with few action scenes, enhanced by an atmospheric and stressful soundtrack, that still manages to leave a considerable impression on its audience. People looking for a conventional, action-packed superhero movie will be disappointed – there are no over-the-top, superpower-fuelled scenes as we are so used to see. However, the movie still subtly plays with comic book tropes, infusing a fresh breath to the genre through its remarkably self-aware characters which bring much-needed realism to the movie. James McAvoy is back in the role of the chilling DID-afflicted Kevin W. Crumb, introduced in Split, while Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson return in the roles of the would-be superhero David Dunn, and megalomaniac villain Elijah Price aka Mr Glass. The worst critique one could make is that at times, the movie feels as if it is still searching for its own story; it doesn’t culminate in a cathartic moment necessary for the viewer to feel satisfied.

The final plot-twist reveal, for instance, doesn’t seem as memorable as the movie makes it out to be.

Glass is a movie that fails to reach the heights of the previous films despite stellar performances from McAvoy and Samuel L Jackson. However, it is a worthy watch if you are a fan of Unbreakable and Split as M. Night Shyamalan manages to recreate the oppressive atmosphere of its prequels. All in all, Glass will neither disappoint nor thrill the viewers.