Glass

“This is not a cartoon. This is the real world.”

Filmology Rating: 2.25 out of 4

Glass marks the return of M. Night Shyamalan as he attempts to make his Avengers movie. So here it is, the movie that already has jokes about how the film has everyone split. This film does not seem to be unbreakable. I happen to be a glass half full type of guy about the film.

This is the team up movie with Mr. Glass (Samuel L Jackson), David Dunn (Bruce Willis) , and The Beast (James McAvoy). In the film, a psychologist attempts to make them believe that they actually do not have powers, they all have mental disorders and damage to the frontal lobe of their brain which she believes gives them the illusion that they have these supernatural abilities. Samuel L. Jackson collects his paycheck by sitting in a chair and James McAvoy should win a damn Oscar already.

I am going to call this film "unfocused greatness." This is, unfortunately, a film that got worse as the film goes along. It starts in that Unbreakable vibe where it's all moody and slow. Then it turns into a cluster of too many people in the second act, then a third act that goes into the "What?" territory. The first act reintroduces us to David Dunn and The Beast, who I will call Kevin. David Dunn is doing superhero stuff and Kevin is doing evil stuff. All of that is just terrific. My only complaint is that at times the lighting was so dark and combined with strangely shot action scenes, I found the camera work and lighting in the film all over the place.

Throughout the entire first act, Samuel L. Jackson takes the backseat while Kevin is front center. When the film ended, I said, "Why is this called Glass?" For half the movie, Samuel L. Jackson doesn't even talk. Then David Dunn is completely forgotten about in the second act until an action scene forces his involvement. This is James McAvoy's movie and, once again, this man deserves a damn Oscar. If you thought he was good in Split he is far better here. Whenever he wasn't on screen (which is rare) I was bored. James McAvoy has more personalities to work with in this film and has a blast doing it. But each act is dedicated to each character which made for a very uneven a experience. There are also three more characters we have to focus on that have relation to the main three characters. I won't spoil who, but for the second act we are intercutting between six characters and it's so cluttered. I get why they're there, but it's too messy.

I will say that Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson are actually trying in this. It was nice to see that and they really do have a respect for Shyamalan, however, there was not enough of them. It was a James McAvoy movie. There is a wonderful relationship between Kevin and someone else. It was not needed but it was very appreciated and I liked all of that. However, I just wish it was more pronounced.

The film is also very funny due to James McAvoy. Just because it's a Blumhouse film, does not mean it's a horror film. There were genuinely funny things both intentional and unintentional. One of which was a cameo that was had me saying "really?" Come on.

This movie's main issue is being unfocused. There are moments of greatness throughout but also moments of "what?" as well. And that is the issue with Shyamalan films. The end of the film was also an issue and it was a good idea, but it came out of left field. I was let down, however, there are things to like in this cluttered film that is simply too long. This will be a highly controversial film for a lot of people.

Rating: Rent It

-Nolan