A kid had to face the world in his own animated version and conquer life's biggest monster. ANI (The Harvest) It's as if a child's imagination is a safe haven, a place where the world is a playground for all the possibilities the mind could think of. And even the tight and humble space called home, situated on a busy Metro could not hinder the inquisitive headspace of a young Mithi (played by Zyren Dela Cruz), a boy who accomplishes the day by playing with his colorful toy robots that perform a vital role in his imaginary narrative. With a loving father and a mother that sings him a self-assuring lullaby, Mithi is blissfully unaware of the harsh reality. But life decided to toy with his fate, and Mithi's perfect little world is now showing its cracks, putting his vulnerability to the test and slowly depriving him of his happiness he thought would last forever. And through his eyes, the world suddenly transforms itself into a menacing monster. Set in a lush ...
Director M. Night Shyamalan had arguably one of the most fluctuating track records when it comes to producing quality films — from his critically-acclaimed 1999 horror movie, The Sixth Sense, to his poorly crafted (and probably one of the worst) adaptation of a Nickelodeon cartoon, The Last Airbender in 2010. His creative visionary and storytelling refinements were particularly interesting though, as he focuses more on a slow-pacing, self-evolving character study with unconventional, twisted endings as opposed to the traditional grandeur of blockbuster films.
In 2000, Shyamalan released the first film from his Eastrail #177 trilogy — Unbreakable, starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson. The movie follows David Dunn, a football stadium security guard and the sole survivor of the tragic Eastrail #177 train accident. Unaware of his unique gift, David is somewhat incapable of sustaining injuries and immune to any illness. On the other side of the spectrum, there was Elijah Price, a brilliant strategist and a founder and manager of a limited edition art gallery, whose unique gift, or curse as he initially perceives, was that his bones easily break, as brittle as an ordinary glass. Elijah was obsessed with the idea that comic book stories are a playful documentary of real life superheroes and so he believed that he was destined to be a real life super villain. Both David and Elijah had conflicting ideologies and by the end of the film the two became enemies of one another.
Several years later, the second chapter of the trilogy was released — Split, a psychological thriller starring James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy. In this 2016 film, Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), a person suffering from dissociative identity disorder (DID), abducted three young women and imprisoned them in his apartment. Kevin is one of the 24 personalities living inside him, including the highly-aggressive entity, The Beast. Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy), one of the three kidnapped victims, formed a friendly relationship with Kevin and towards the end, The Beast spared Casey's life as he sensed her purity and run off.
Following the success of the film, Glass was released as the third and final act of the trilogy. The story picks up after the events of Split. In this movie, David Dunn, together with his son, now owns a home security shop and secretly doing the hero job by hunting down criminals and abusers within their vicinity.
David crossed paths with Kevin Wendell Crumb, now fully controlled by his split personalities or The Horde, and discovered that he's been hiding four young girls at a secret hideout. David went to that place and rescued the girls but he was confronted by The Beast. The two clashed in a heated fist fight until the police came in, led by psychologist Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Poulson). They were both arrested and transferred to a mental facility, were they were "imprisoned" to undergo a treatment. Dr. Ellie specializes in treating individuals who believed they were superheroes, a particular grandeur of delusion as she coins it. Shortly after that, it was also revealed that Elijah Price resides in that facility, and so his long-running devious plan of embracing one's special abilities is now finally coming into fruition.
The Good
Glass is a unique and deconstructed take on superhero stories and comic book morality. The strength of the film lies with its characterization. James McAvoy's performance was deliberately the front and center of this film. His swift transition among his dissociative personalities were unnervingly satisfying and even better than his act in Split.
Samuel L. Jackson is always outdoing himself with his theatrical and intimidating presence. His performance is a justified reminder that a character can be super imposing even without the outrageous superpower visual effects. He hypnotizes the audience into his own mind, making his motivations understandable and compelling.
Bruce Willis' is more focused and committed in his role than ever. Out of the three, his character brought a more grounded delivery and balanced out the cutting-edge aura of his two companions.
The cinematography in this film is amazing and Shyamalan knows how to create a dark and moody atmosphere that compliments the movies general theme.
The Bad
While I like the actors and their performances, I thought the exposure of each was so uneven to a point that I feel Bruce Willis's arc was sidelined in favor of James McAvoy's character progression. Sure Willis had his moments but I thought Shyamalan didn't know what to do with him and everything that he did in this film were the things that we already saw in Unbreakable. It's like he forgot what he originally envisioned and just rushed things out.
Despite a solid opening sequence, the second act went on for too long and I was spontaneously asking myself where the story is going or is this what I want to see. That final act I thought was too sparse, and all the looming confrontation that was promised ended up being just a mediocre meet up.
Individually, the actors were amazing but Shyamalan doesn't quite understand the whole universe build-up. I was left underwhelmed and confused by the end of it.
Should You Watch It?
The main problem lies with the film's progression. Disappointingly enough, Shyamalan shattered the opportunity of this movie to become a complete and satisfying conclusion to his unconventional universe.
Glass had the right ingredients, however, its story cracked under pressure and left its audiences with just shards of wasted potential.
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