Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan scores an impressive hat-trick with “Glass,” the long-awaited sequel to his 2000 mystery drama “Unbreakable” that was bridged by his hit 2016 horror thriller “Split.”
VIDEO: See Tim’s review of “Glass” and “Stan & Ollie” with Adrienne Broaddus on KARE-TV.
Released in 2000, “Unbreakable” essentially examines an obsessive comic book art dealer’s (Samuel L. Jackson) idea that superheroes — like Bruce Willis’ David Dunn — walk among us and will go to any means necessary to confirm his beliefs; while 2016’s “Split,” as it turns out, reveals there are supervillains — like James McAvoy’s Kevin Crumb, who suffers from dissociative identity disorder — too, like the Beast – one of Kevin’s 24 personalities.
“Glass,” a name assumed by Jackson’s character in “Unbroken” because of his brittle bone disease, takes place, appropriately, 19 years after the events of the first film, where David realizes that he must confront his fellow meta-human who wreaking havoc across Philadelphia. Getting in his way, though, is a Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson), who finds a way to institutionalize David, Kevin and Glass in a bid to convince each of them that their perceived powers are just figments of their imaginations.
AUDIO: Hear Tim’s review of “Glass” with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show.”
The interesting thing about “Unbreakable” is that is really was ahead of its time with its dark superhero narrative — considering it came out after DC had its run and faded in 1990s, and just as Marvel’s X-Men and Spider-Man showed there was interest in the moviegoing public that the Marvel Cinematic Universe could finally materialize with Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and the Avengers.
Oddly enough, Shyaman’s inventive superhero movie reemerges at a time where there’s been a proliferation of them, yet amazingly, “Glass” still sets itself apart thanks to filmmaker’s penchant for plot twists and real-world narrative, which is enhanced by the terrific performances of McAvoy, Willis and Jackson. (Plus, in a class move, the writer-director brings back nearly every member of “Unbreakable’s” cast, save Robin Wright, whose character’s absence is explained in the story.)
Fans of “Unbreakable” and “Split” are going to love “Glass,” as Shyamalan’s sweeping, twisty and ambitious narrative finally comes together in grand fashion after two decades. The film will no doubt be confusing, though, to those who’ve never seen “Unbreakable” and/or “Split,” and Shyamalan is putting a lot of trust in his audience as such by not including any sort of prologue. Naturally, there are flashbacks to the previous films in “Glass,” which aids the story at key points in the film. If at all possible, everyone, whether they’ve seen “Unbreakable” and “Split” or not will greatly benefit by revisiting the films before seeing “Glass.”
Ultimately, all roads lead to the smashing ending of “Glass,” where you realize that despite third chapter’s tidy conclusion, Shyamalan is not done telling his comic book tale just yet.
Lammometer: 7.5 (out of 10)
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
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