Stephen King, Wes Craven, John Carpenter—and yes, M. Night Shyamalan…
They’re all shock-meisters in their own right.
Whenever a new film is released with their names attached, fan curiosity peaks.
And so it is with the latest entry from M. Night Shyamalan credited with writing, producing and directing his latest psychological shocker called “GLASS.”
However this film marks a new and rather strange frontier for Mr. Shyamalan. A departure from the norm for the filmmaker who up until now has made his living by creating only original movies.
In other words for every previous project he invented basically a new tone, new life and a new world for his characters to live in.
So “GLASS” is really a diversion for him as he now blends characters from two of his previous films—“UNBREAKABLE” and “SPLIT”— into the story and creates a third new concluding version.
If all this sounds complicated—IT IS!
And I’m desperately trying to keep from spilling any spoilers here.
Suffice it to say, the ongoing weirdness throughout “GLASS” does eventually lead to a payoff.
Not necessarily the massive one I was looking for, but an adequate one.
But Shyamalan certainly takes his time to piece it all together for us. The pacing here is….well…slow.
And if you are planning on seeing “GLASS” it would definitely help for you to have seen its two forerunners, namely “UNBREAKABLE” and “SPLIT.”
But its not totally necessary as things are nicely tied together at the finale.
James McAvoy (as 20–YES–20 different characters),with Bruce Willis, Sarah Paulson and Samuel L. Jackson all in top form as we reach for the climax of this twisted, psychological schizo-thriller that (HINT!) attempts to explain a Philadelphia train wreck some 19 years earlier.
This is Shyamalan’s origin story to the trilogy and he’s got a grip on your sights and emotions until the credits roll at the end.
“UNBREAKABLE” + “SPLIT” = “GLASS”—and then some!
My grade: B-
“GLASS” opens this weekend in wide release.
I gotta tell / warn you guys on this one…
I may have seen a worse movie than “Glass” over the course of the past year, but if I have, I can’t remember it!