Movie review: Glass

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courtesy of google

Isabel Cruz, Staff Reporter

Following Unbreakable and Split, Glass effectively wraps up the Unbreakable Trilogy in two hours. Director M. Night Shyamalan takes on the superhero genre and creates a unique universe that does not pull from any comic books.

In the movie, Kevin Crumb( James McAvoy), the main character in Split, meets with characters, David Dunn (Bruce Willis) and Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), from Unbreakable when the three are brought to a psychiatric hospital where they are treated for their mental issues, A.K.A their “superpowers.”

Glass features the talents of Samuel L. Jackson, James McAvoy, Bruce Willis and Sarah Paulson. I was particularly blown away by James McAvoy’s role. McAvoy plays Kevin Crumb, who is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) which causes the individual to take on various personas. It is these varying personalities which allow McAvoy to showcase his incredibly impressive range as an actor. In the film, Kevin spontaneously switches between 23 unique personalities, all of which McAvoy are able to portray convincingly. It is mindblowing to watch McAvoy pinball between Kevin’s various personas and nail them each time. Some of those personalities include Hedwig, a nine-year-old boy, Patricia, an older woman and “The Beast,” who can scale walls and run at superhuman speed, all of whom McAvoy are able to play within a single scene.

I will be honest and admit that I found the first half of the movie slow, and if you go into this movie expecting a typical action-packed superhero story, then you too may feel the same, but this movie is not your typical superhero movie. Glass is a unique cross between an action movie and a psychological thriller. Think Inception meets The Avengers. Unlike many superhero movies, Glass is not one large action scene with drama, romance and comedy sprinkled throughout. Instead, Glass uses action very sparingly which I believe shows that Shyamalan does not rely on quick paced scenes to keep the audience intrigued, but rather uses those quick paced scenes to accent the already intriguing plot.

Action packed or not, I am simply not a big fan of superhero movies, but from a technical standpoint, Glass is an above average film. The story is original, the acting is impressive and the trademark “Shyamalan twists” which he manages to include in many of his movies keep the audience engaged. I do strongly recommend that you watch Unbreakable/Split before viewing Glass or else you may leave with more questions than answers since Glass references those movies in order to advance the plot. If you are unable to watch the preceding movies in the trilogy, but are a fan of action movies, superhero movies or psychological thrillers, I recommend that you give Glass a watch. I give Glass 4 out of 5 paws.