Back in 2000, no one thought Unbreakable was going to have a tie-in sequel 16-years down the road. Even though Bruce Willis had mentioned it was the beginning of a trilogy, there were many other factors that stood in the way of bringing the completed concept to fruition. In early 2017, nobody could have predicted that Split was the clandestine sequel that had been hinted at so many years prior. Love him or hate him, M. Night Shyamalan has continued to do things his way regardless of criticism. As a result, he’s had a bit of a resurgence over the past couple of years and his career as an auteur is more likely to be defined by his strongest efforts rather than his worst. Glass probably isn’t going the best movie you’ll see this year but it was an interesting conclusion to the “Eastrail 177 Trilogy” which can be appreciated for its deconstruction of the superhero genre.
This isn’t the kind of movie you can walk into without any background. It’s the third film in a complex trilogy and there’s a significant foundation laid before we get to the events of this movie. So, if you haven’t see the first two then stop reading and go do that now. Following the events of Split, David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is in the process of tracking down Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy) who had recently kidnapped a group of cheerleaders to sacrifice to his superhuman “alter” personality, the Beast. While the showdown between the two is inevitable, the reintroduction of Elijah (Samuel L. Jackson) has unintended consequences for everyone else involved.
Much like the first two installments of the franchise, this was a cerebral approach the superhero genre fueled by a trio of strong acting performances. Willis hasn’t exactly been a bankable star as of late but he doesn’t seem to turn down scripts. Either way, this was a welcome return to form for an actor who’s been in need of a good character for some time. He’s got the right blend of rugged charisma to pull this off and reprise a role he’d received acclaim for in the past. I still don’t know how McAvoy didn’t make the final cut for Best Actor with his performance in Split but the Academy has made a habit of poor selection criteria. Sure, there were other strong performances throughout the course of 2017 but none as dynamic or as fun. Fortunately, we get to see this slew of characters again and James didn’t disappoint but he wasn’t the sole focus this time around either.
With the always entertaining Jackson back in the picture, Elijah (a.k.a. Mr. Glass) naturally took a prominent role once again. There is no secret that he is the mastermind this time out but he’s a complex character with somewhat noble intentions. He’s always wanted David and Kevin to believe in their own abilities from the beginning and, ultimately, he wants the world to believe in superheroes. Unfortunately, his methods for achieving this end are nefarious with little regard for the cost of human life. Oddly enough, paired against Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) you can’t help but cheer for Elijah…or any of the three “patients”. She’s there to convince them they aren’t special and a significant portion of the film is dedicated to this psychological tug-of-war. Paulson was a serviceable foil who managed to be almost completely unlikeable without ever conveying any real emotion.
Shyamalan was wise to bring back Anya Taylor-Joy (Split) and Spencer Treat Clark (Unbreakable) to reprise their roles. Both of these characters played large parts in/of their original films and they brought that depth to their respective story arcs here. It would have been easy to leave them both behind, but they provided nostalgia and continuity that made for a more authentic overall experience.
Production Designer Chris Trujillo didn’t work on Unbreakable or Split but he clearly did his homework. There’s a gritty, grounded realism to the film that wasn’t sacrificed. It’s easy to see that the movie didn’t have a large production budget ($20-million) but the stripped-down approach laid the groundwork for the characters’ stories to take center stage. Fueling the emotional journeys, the original score was impressive and it makes sense that West Dylan Thordson (Split) returned to compose the final piece of the trilogy. Cinematographer Mike Gioulakis mixed a nice blend of “security camera” footage and “omnipresent” shots to help tell this story as an invisible narrator. The fly-on-the-wall approach help to conceal some of the deficiencies in the action sequences but also helped to make the audience solely observers rather than participants. Even without a big budget, the movie still put some of the right pieces in place.
It’s rare these days for a filmmaker to have complete autonomy but Shyamalan has used it to execute his vision, without compromise. This trilogy is so far removed from what has become the norm for superhero films, it’s barely the same genre…and that’s a good thing. Not everyone is going to get on board with it but that’s kind of the point. These movies aren’t made with massive broad appeal in mind anyway. However, Unbreakable became a widely enjoyed cult-favorite over time and Split returned 2000% on its $9-mil production budget, making it the most profitable film on 2017. Glass had a better opening weekend than either of its predecessors ($40-million) and demonstrated a growing appetite for something different in the superhero genre. Styles are always cyclical and it may just be the right time for Shyamalan again or maybe he’s just making better films these days.
Recommendation: If you liked Unbreakable and/or Split, then you should see the end to the trilogy. If you haven’t seen either of those two then don’t bother. Fans of Shyamalan will be pleased to see a return to form.