The sequel to both “Unbreakable” and “Split” is passable, but undoubtedly the weakest installment in the trilogy.
It serves as a great standalone film, but when compared to its predecessors it simply does not follow through on the grand picture painted by M. Night Shyamalan.
Exploring a mental delusion side to heroes and villains, Glass offers a fresh take on the superhero genre but falls short in the third act.
Littered with obvious nods to superhero tropes and cliches, as well as outdated references seemingly intended to resonate with the audience, the film seemingly undoes much of what Shyamalan established for his characters in their respective installments.
Confined to only a few locations, the film does not deliver on the superhero spectacle seemingly promised throughout the previous films and shoves even the protagonists into the backseat for the second half of its runtime.
The mental facility that much of the film takes place in lacks realism, in turn costing Glass the immersive feel carried in “Unbreakable” and “Split.”
Though characters such as Casey Cooke, girlfriend to Split’s Kevin and Joseph Dunn, son to Unbreakable’s David Dunn, help give substance to the thin plot, it is not enough to carry the film for its two-hour runtime.
The climax feels especially underwhelming and reduces the phenomenal acting of James Mcavoy to mere henchmen like status.
The acting talents of Bruce Willis are underused and when he does make an appearance it is in a way that detracts from his character that fans loved.
The film suffers from stakes that seem painfully low, and although the film opens up the way for an even larger shared universe it fails to feel even remotely as grand as those of Marvel Studios or even DC Comics.
The problem lies herein, Shyamalan provides a new take on superheroes and villains but is hindered by the audience now being flooded with superhero films, and therefore expecting action to accompany the twists.
The central theme of a shared delusion is powerful, but not executed to its full potential.
Intended to focus on three characters, it throws it all away in favor of heading in a totally different direction.
The fights, though artistic, seems to be thrown in only as a means of satisfying the promised superhero beatdown hinted at in the trilogy’s first installment.
The ending is as expected, a twist, but one that sadly drags the film down even further than its climax did.
Sadly the film is unable to carry the weight of those that came before it, and as such, collapses under trying to make too grand of a spectacle.
Overall the film is solid at the start but grows increasingly flawed as the minutes pass.
For those simply looking for a new angle on superheroes, the film will leave them intrigued, or looking for the climactic end to Shyalaman’s tale, they will not find it here.
