Glass Movie Review

Glass (2019)

Watch the trailer
Written by: M. Night Shyamalan
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson
Rated: PG-13

Plot
Security consultant David Dunn uses his supernatural abilities to find Kevin Wendell Crumb, both ending up in a psychiatric hospital with Mr. Glass where a doctor attempts to convince them they're delusional.

Verdict
This has a great first third, starts to drag in the middle, and the ending is a bit underwhelming. It's fun to see these three comic book characters together, but a large portion of the movie keeps them prisoner instead of having them use their abilities. The exposition that links this story back to comics is frequently awkward
This does have some amazing shots. So much that it almost distracts, and McAvoy is amazing, switching between characters. This movie just isn't as grounded as it should be. We're told this is an origin story, but I don't want the result.
While this isn't as bad as reviews led me to believe, there are a few disappointing choices and the conclusion is entirely underwhelming.
It depends.

Review
This is part of a trilogy with Unbreakable (2000) and Split (read my review).

Glass has a great first act, opening with the Beast having kidnapped kids. It's very much what we saw in Split. Then we cut to David Dunn, the protagonist of Unbreakable nineteen years later. Unbreakable was this grounded look at a super human. How it weaves the antagonist and protagonist together was very effective. In Glass, Dunn works with his son as a security consultant. It's a neat touch having same actor nineteen years later play his son.

Dunn is a vigilante, walking the streets for criminals. He's trying to find the Beast and free the imprisoned girls. They face off, and I thought that would be a preview of things to come, but it really isn't. Dunn and the Beast are captured, but the cops are lined up outside with special lights to subdue the Beast and that's a fair amount of mobilization. How did they know where Dunn and the Beast were? How did they set all of that up and not try to rescue the kidnap victims directly? That wasn't spur of the moment. It's orchestrated and little problems like this plague the movie.

All of the marketing shows Mr. Glass, David Dunn, and the Beast in a psychiatric hospital. That's neat at first, but this is also where the movie starts to drag. I kept wondering where will this go. The doctor that has three days to treat them attempts to convince them they aren't super despite all the evidence to the contrary that the movie conveniently ignores. I have an issue with that, but the movie does address that later though it's pretty much an easy out.
There is an escape, and that's another issue. The escapees just walk past the guards. The security in this building isn't sufficient at all. There are large gaps that are present only to allow the story to progress. 

The movie takes a strange stance arguing that comic books are an almost historical document. It's shaky, and it's just as easy to say they are inspired by truth that is stranger than fiction, but this movie takes that a step too far claiming them to be a written record. The whole push to link this to comics could be removed and lose nothing. The exposition linking comics and the plot is always forced, and that exposition only increases as we get near the end.

This has some really nice shots that almost border on too flashy. The framing overpowers the scene as I'm thinking about what a cool angle it is rather than what's actually happening. Though this does have a few neat scenes, but they were never quite electric. Something Unbreakable managed well.
McAvoy does an amazing job switching characters. As good as he is, he still doesn't get enough credit.

Each of the three mains, Glass, Dunn, and the Beast have a side character that showed them kindness. I thought the movie would do more with the side characters and the theme of kindness and understanding. I wondered why these characters were even present. It's an interesting angle that doesn't play a part in anything which seems like a missed opportunity. Another opportunity missed is the "showdown" promised through unneeded exposition. The showdown is lackluster. I expected a really cool fight, not overblown and over the top like Marvel movies, but something smaller yet satisfying. It doesn't happen, and it's completely underwhelming.

You know this will have some kind of twist, but this is more of a reveal. I won't spoil it, but it does more harm than good. It seems poised to set up another movie, but I don't want that. As grounded as Unbreakable and Split were this stretches suspension of disbelief too far. You could strip this part from the movie and not lose anything. Keeping the story self contained instead of opening this up for another movie could have made the conclusion more effective. A solid ending could have really helped this.