The latest M. Night Shyamalan film is connecting previous film’s together that were 19 years apart. Meet Elijah Glass, a mysterious being with a ulterior motive for creating what is said to be humans with supernatural abilities. The film further explores the condition known as D.I.D, where the multiple personalities of Kevin Wendell Crumb collide with that of David Dunn, a man with an extraordinary skill to be able to save the young girls from the beast that is determined to destroy them. That and all to further connect two films and create a even deeper triangle into Shyamalan’s suspenseful world.
Glass stars, Samuel L. Jackson, as Elijah Glass, but the story isn’t just about him but more about the connection between James McAvoy’s ‘Split’ personality character and Bruce Willis’ role as ‘Unbreakable’ star, David Dunn who sees himself as a modern day superhero. That being said, the film doesn’t really adequately answer the question of who is Elijah Glass. Rather it dances around a concept that the train accident that happened 19 years ago, where David Dunn is the only one left living somehow connects Crumb’s disorder that resulted from his father being killed in the same train and leaves one to wonder just how many more “supernatural” being exist as account to that one incident.
That being said, the film contains a lot of back and forth dialogue, in a sense rehashing what audiences come to already perceive as what the film is connecting, which I do commend Shyamalan on his writing skills because it does make it easy to follow, especially if one doesn’t remember or never saw either of the two other films. However, the problem with this is that for those who do follow closely the storyline of the previous films, one might say the repetition is a bit over the top and kind of takes away from the idea of this movie which is thus titled, Glass as a way of exploring who Elijah Glass is.
That being said, the film does display exception acting specifically in James McAvoy who must portray over ten different types of personalities within minutes of each other and he does it seamlessly where one might be rather creeped out in how smooth a transition he can go from Kevin to Mary Reynolds and ultimately to the Beast within a matter of seconds. Of course, Bruce Willis as always did an exceptional job as audiences catch up to him 19 years later as he attempts to track down “the beast” who murdered the girls previously, though authorities, afraid of his powers as much as Crumbs, he’s arrested and placed in a mental institute where Dr Ellie Staple, played by Sarah Paulsen, attempts to set the three straight as far as thinking they are superheroes.
The one thing we do find out about Elijah is that his bones are completely fragile and one wrong step is a broken bone, which gives him the feeling of being untouchable, but it is his mind that one sees is his ultimate strength.
Overall, the film is entertaining in the theatrical aspect. The audience sees three individuals who can do the unimaginable and there is another aspect that Shyamalan attributes to the characters being similar to that of comic book characters. That aside, the film, though mistitled in my opinion, rather should have been more of a sequel to Split rather than Glass. There was no real standout points to accurately justify calling it Glass as it was more of a follow up to where Kevin was and how David Dunn is connected as a whole.
But don’t take my opinion, check it out in theaters as it came out January 18, everywhere. It’s a suspenseful film that will have audiences engaged and raveling in how the train wreck is so prevalent to creating the beast and the ending will leave you wondering, did that really just happen.