Glass

In recent years I've seen M. Night Shyamalan's acclaimed hit from 2000, Unbreakable, and then his surprise hit, Split, from 2016 that was seen as a potential return to form. It's no secret the director's career has been wildly inconsistent since he made a name for himself in the 1990s but he now seemed to be a director to watch again, and with the aforementioned two films being part of the same universe, 2019's Glass would form the final piece in an unexpected trilogy. It would reunite Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson's characters from Unbreakable while introducing them to James McAvoy's villain from the last film.

The film begins with Willis' David Dunn still on the hunt for criminals, with the help of his son, and he is arrested mid-fight with McAvoy before being taken away to a psychiatric facility run by Sarah Poulson's doctor for experimentation. Here we meet the third patient, Jackson's Elijah, and so the film begins. I knew very little going in and expected a cross between the last two films but the end result was very different. Shyamalan has proven he likes to take risks and challenge the mainstream but Glass is a film I really struggled with somehow and almost baffling how different this is to Split in terms quality, production design and also direction.

My problem with Glass is that it feels flat, lifeless and a waste of potential. McAvoy gives the same dedicated performance but it doesn't work and lacks the same impact because the direction and pacing feels disappointingly misjudged. Jackson does his best with what he's given in an unceremonious return while Willis looks bored. The supporting cast that includes Poulson and Anya Taylor-Joy are given nothing to do as they read out Shyamalan's convoluted script.

This is a tough one to find any praise with, particularly given the final act is nothing more than a car wreck in slow-motion, as Glass smacks with an air of smugness in its approach to be different from the mainstream. And in doing so, the film ultimately betrays the two that came before which is the biggest insult and is why I can't for any reason recommend this. Glass is a shockingly bad experience to endure and one well worth avoiding.