Andy Berrell
Sports Editor
Glass is the third movie in a superhero series written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Coming off of the success of previous movies Unbreakable and the most recent installment, Split, another sequel seemed necessary as it would tie these two seemingly different movies together.
Split, starring James McAvoy, was a mind-boggling story involving a disturbed man with 24 personalities who kidnaps three teenage girls and holds them captive. While, starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, is more of a movie about a crime-fighting vigilante who learned of his strength from a fatal train crash, which he was the sole survivor of. Glass was the movie that tied both of these installments together by bringing back Willis’ and Jackson’s characters from Unbreakable as well as McAvoy’s many memorable characters from Split.
The basis of the plot revolves around the three “superheroes,” David Dunn (The Overseer), Kevin Wendell Crumb (The Horde) and Elijah Price (Mr. Glass) being held inside of the Raven Hill Memorial Hospital just outside of Philadelphia. The whole purpose of them being there is so that they may be studied by Dr. Ellie Staple, played by Sarah Paulson. She believes that these so-called superheroes are actually people affected by damage to their brain.
An overarching theme of the movie is how Dr. Ellie Staple is trying to prove to these people that they aren’t superheroes, they think that they are superheroes due to possible damage to their frontal lobes. Conversely, the superheroes are trying to prove the opposite to Dr. Staple, that they have gifts and it isn’t only in their heads.
Those who have heard of M. Night Shyamalan are familiar with his writing style, which typically involves a big plot twist. This trope can be seen in some of his more notable movies like The Sixth Sense and The Village. This style holds true in Glass. Shyamalan has not only become synonymous with the plot twist, but also the genre of thriller, so it came as a surprise when people found out that he was going to attempt to make a superhero series.
Even though this seemed to be a foreign subject to him, he was still able to make a successful superhero series while also confining it to the thriller genre and continuing his long tradition of plot twists.
Considering that Glass isn’t a typical family-friendly superhero movie, there are a lot of elements involved that viewers wouldn’t find in a Marvel or DC movie. The camera work is more personal, using close-up shots on the characters faces to capture their emotions in a given scene, as well as using dark and sinister music to portray a turning point in the movie’s plot.
I would rate Glass as a 4 out of 5 stars. The reason I wouldn’t give this movie a full score of 5 out of 5 stars, however, would be that the plot felt lacking in terms of resolution, I left the theater wanting things to have ended differently. Aside from that, the movie succeeds in many different aspects. It adds a new take on superhero movies to the industry. It contains themes and messages that can be understood universally, and I believe that it can be enjoyed by any and all that see it, even if they had not seen the previous installments in the series.
