Glass (Unbreakable Sequel) (Post-release)

[Usagi Pilgrim]

I've watched several reviews today, & most I'm hearing is that critics are going to hate it, & fans will feel pretty favorable towards it...trying hard to not say SPLIT... lol.


I know that UNBREAKABLE was panned when it came out, so I'm going to be totally in until I see otherwise.

 

[Lear60man]

Critics always use a negative filter on Sci-Fi movies. If its a 10, they will review it as a 7 to save face because its not in French or historically correct in some fashion. Im on board with the finale 100%.

 

[CB2001]

My non-spoiler review: I just got back from seeing Glass with my sister, Heather. I'm not going to spoil things. The film is okay, but it wasn't the ending I was expecting. Glass concludes the story of David Dunn, Elijah Price and Kevin Windell Crumb from both Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016), a simple trilogy known by fans as the Eastrail 177 Trilogy. But the ending opens up the world in a much bigger way that reminded me of the post-credits scene of Iron Man (2008) with Nick Fury standing in Tony Stark's living room. I don't know if M. Night Shyamalan plans on continuing the story universe he's set up for the three films, but the door is certainly open for it. If I had to rank it, on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being boring and 10 being amazing, I rank it about an 8.

 

[JD]

When Unbreakable came out in November 2000 I would've never guessed it would spawn a trilogy that would end almost two decades later. I thought Unbreakable was a quirky movie that was rather low key that pays off in huge ways. It certainly overachieved with the plot it had and become something bigger as the intrigue builds. It's not-a-sequel follow up, came out two years ago and was as notable for the outstanding performance of James McAvoy.

Both Unbreakable and Split are sold A movies and worthy of multiple viewings.

Glass ends the trilogy with C+. Without getting spoiler territory - I found it started off weakly, but started to steamroll with a classic-kinda Shyamalan build up and I really thought things were gonna finish with a big, spectacular ending. Instead, we got something that just kinda ended with a mild M. Night-trademarked ending that then an ending that seemed so force fed and inane.

Stalwart actors Willis and Jackson did just fine – Willis didn’t seem to just phone this one in (as he seems to do lately). Perhaps my expectations with McAvoy were too high – but, he just seemed too cartoon-ish this time around and his performance didn’t seem as big or as strong. Sarah Paulson felt oddly miscast and just never worked for me in her role.

Ultimately, the series ended trying to be bigger than it needed to be - and to make it worse, they tried to trump that with another attempt that fell flat and was defied common sense.

These characters deserved better than what they got.

 

[smurf]

I was pretty disappointed overall. I felt like they thought it was some sort of epic finish, but to me it’s was just meh. I actually apologized to my wife at the end for taking her to see it.

 

[Bigdaddy]

We watched unbreakable (for the 20th time!) on Thursday, Split for the first time on Friday then Glass on Sunday night.
Split was pretty dam cool unfortunately Glass fell short for me. It was a good story but the cinematography was poor, the action sequences were awful (enough with the POV!) and I really felt like Willis wasn't into the role (could be the minimal lines he had). When it got to the final showdown I couldn't wait for it to be over, I've shot better fights for fanfilms. The saving grace was McAvoy and Jackson, they really worked well on screen together. For me it felt like a wasted opportunity that got halfway there but fell down near the end.
P.S. Shamalang-a-ding-dong's cameo took me out of the story at the beginning, he's a terrible actor and his lines were nothing but unnecessary exposition to remind the audience he had a cameo in unbreakable. The guy needs to stay off camera!

 

[Usagi Pilgrim]

His clunky acting aside, I think M Night's cameo served a HUGE purpose in the film.

In UNBREAKABLE, David Dunn passed up the opportunity to confront Kevin's mom about abusing him, to instead confront the drug dealing character. Although Dunn didn't 'catch' the bad guy, the encounter was still enough of a wake up call to Shayamalan's character, that he stopped hanging with the wrong crowd, turned his life around & became a productive member of society. He was the landlord of Betty Buckley's character from SPLIT. He was in David's store buying security cameras because one of his tenants had been murdered, who was Kevin's therapist.

Showing that Dunn had in fact inspired a change in at least one life shows that he was in fact helping the greater good.

I'm not wanting to come across as some bitter old man, mad at the current generation (I'm less than 50), but a lot of the reviews I've seen, seem to not like, or simply not understand the concept of self-sacrifice being used to inspire others for the greater good. That's one of the largest themes I took away from it.

 

[CB2001]

I think I get the ending, and why it felt as off as it did. We were all expecting this epic and awesome battle between Dunn and The Horde, as well as good triumphing over evil. But we forgot something: the film's setting isn't a superhero film like Iron Man, or The Avengers or any DC property. The world of the story is sort of similar to our real world. Remember what Elijah said to David when he called him after remembering he wasn't injured in the car crash in the first film? Even better, what he said to Patricia the night before bringing the Horde out? "This part won't be like a comic book." "This isn't a cartoon."

We were looking at the film like the typical comic book films that have overpopulated the theaters in the past decade and a half. David and Kevin are both suppose to be real, so naturally they aren't trained to fight like how you see in comics or the epic battles in the Avenger films. The entire ending is playing against expectations. And what happens to David, Elijah and Kevin, that's just real life. Not everyone gets a happy ending. Not everyone gets to walk away from the fight. The good and the bad are taken out equally, and unceremoniously. Not all of them got a chance to say something in the end. It was brutal and real. And then we get another twist when we realize what Elijah's plan really was. The Clover Group may have taken all three out, and the truth about super humans existing may be out, but it doesn't mean it's an ending.

As Elijah said himself: "It's an origin story." It's the origin of that film universe's super humans finding out they're not alone and that others like themselves exist. Now, the world knows that there are those who can be more, all at the cost of three lives. It's a complete subversion of the typical superhero story ending. It's brutal, it's sad, but it's the closest to a real world ending. The truth is out, and the Clover Group may now have a lot more competition to deal with.

 

[Usagi Pilgrim]

I think I get the ending, and why it felt as off as it did. We were all expecting this epic and awesome battle between Dunn and The Horde, as well as good triumphing over evil. But we forgot something: the film's setting isn't a superhero film like Iron Man, or The Avengers or any DC property. The world of the story is sort of similar to our real world. Remember what Elijah said to David when he called him after remembering he wasn't injured in the car crash in the first film? Even better, what he said to Patricia the night before bringing the Horde out? "This part won't be like a comic book." "This isn't a cartoon."

We were looking at the film like the typical comic book films that have overpopulated the theaters in the past decade and a half. David and Kevin are both suppose to be real, so naturally they aren't trained to fight like how you see in comics or the epic battles in the Avenger films. The entire ending is playing against expectations. And what happens to David, Elijah and Kevin, that's just real life. Not everyone gets a happy ending. Not everyone gets to walk away from the fight. The good and the bad are taken out equally, and unceremoniously. Not all of them got a chance to say something in the end. It was brutal and real. And then we get another twist when we realize what Elijah's plan really was. The Clover Group may have taken all three out, and the truth about super humans existing may be out, but it doesn't mean it's an ending.

As Elijah said himself: "It's an origin story." It's the origin of that film universe's super humans finding out they're not alone and that others like themselves exist. Now, the world knows that there are those who can be more, all at the cost of three lives. It's a complete subversion of the typical superhero story ending. It's brutal, it's sad, but it's the closest to a real world ending. The truth is out, and the Clover Group may now have a lot more competition to deal with.

1000% agree!

The Clover Group has indoctrinated society with the idea that differences=shortcomings. Elijah's plan was to show that differences are actually your strengths.

 

[Jedifyfe]

It was....not good.

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

What a pity hearing about this movie. Unbreakable is one of those films that show that the superhero subject can be so much more than just popcorn material. While I wasn't crazy about Split, something that revisited Unbreakable got my attention and what a shame this installment is such a letdown.

 

[mattycsi]

I just got back from this.
I thought it was astounding. Loved every minute.
James McAvoy riffing through characters with the hypno light was probably the best acting I'm ever likely to see on screen.
MNS managed to draw out a level of sympathy for all 3 characters at the end too, no easy feat.

I really dont know what more anyone could expect from this, to me it rounded off a near perfect trilogy.
Will be marathoning all 3 when i get ahold of Glass.

 

[Bigdaddy]

His clunky acting aside, I think M Night's cameo served a HUGE purpose in the film.

In UNBREAKABLE, David Dunn passed up the opportunity to confront Kevin's mom about abusing him, to instead confront the drug dealing character. Although Dunn didn't 'catch' the bad guy, the encounter was still enough of a wake up call to Shayamalan's character, that he stopped hanging with the wrong crowd, turned his life around & became a productive member of society. He was the landlord of Betty Buckley's character from SPLIT. He was in David's store buying security cameras because one of his tenants had been murdered, who was Kevin's therapist.

Showing that Dunn had in fact inspired a change in at least one life shows that he was in fact helping the greater good.

I'm not wanting to come across as some bitter old man, mad at the current generation (I'm less than 50), but a lot of the reviews I've seen, seem to not like, or simply not understand the concept of self-sacrifice being used to inspire others for the greater good. That's one of the largest themes I took away from it.

It felt like poorly written, delivered and unnecessary exhibition to me. Of course David has been impacting lives in a positive way, that was clearly shown in Unbreakable and suggested in Glass. It didn't need to be spoon fed to the audience. For me it took away from the "real" world feel, showing a "small" world (much like Kevin's twist) but I think it was in there mostly to give MNS his Hitchcock moment.
That moment is easy to overlook but the ending just didn't work, it tries to set up a "real" world consequence but abandons it at the last minute for the sake of a "twist". I hate to say it but I'd call this a 5 out of 10, maybe a 6 but that's probably being generous.

 

[JoMamma_Smurf]

 

[SickleClaw]

I think I get the ending, and why it felt as off as it did. We were all expecting this epic and awesome battle between Dunn and The Horde, as well as good triumphing over evil. But we forgot something: the film's setting isn't a superhero film like Iron Man, or The Avengers or any DC property. The world of the story is sort of similar to our real world. Remember what Elijah said to David when he called him after remembering he wasn't injured in the car crash in the first film? Even better, what he said to Patricia the night before bringing the Horde out? "This part won't be like a comic book." "This isn't a cartoon."

We were looking at the film like the typical comic book films that have overpopulated the theaters in the past decade and a half. David and Kevin are both suppose to be real, so naturally they aren't trained to fight like how you see in comics or the epic battles in the Avenger films. The entire ending is playing against expectations. And what happens to David, Elijah and Kevin, that's just real life. Not everyone gets a happy ending. Not everyone gets to walk away from the fight. The good and the bad are taken out equally, and unceremoniously. Not all of them got a chance to say something in the end. It was brutal and real. And then we get another twist when we realize what Elijah's plan really was. The Clover Group may have taken all three out, and the truth about super humans existing may be out, but it doesn't mean it's an ending.

As Elijah said himself: "It's an origin story." It's the origin of that film universe's super humans finding out they're not alone and that others like themselves exist. Now, the world knows that there are those who can be more, all at the cost of three lives. It's a complete subversion of the typical superhero story ending. It's brutal, it's sad, but it's the closest to a real world ending. The truth is out, and the Clover Group may now have a lot more competition to deal with.

I liked the movie a lot, giving it an 8/10. I do think that the movie set forth a lot of questions in my mind as to the implications of Glass's plan. He really is someone who thinks up to ten steps ahead of everyone else... Glass set up his plan so cleverly that it misdirects the viewer and the characters themselves regarding his real intentions. It was never about a huge public spectacle...it was all to cover up his real intentions.

 

[CB2001]

I liked the movie a lot, giving it an 8/10. I do think that the movie set forth a lot of questions in my mind as to the implications of Glass's plan. He really is someone who thinks up to ten steps ahead of everyone else... Glass set up his plan so cleverly that it misdirects the viewer and the characters themselves regarding his real intentions. It was never about a huge public spectacle...it was all to cover up his real intentions.

And now, we're left with the question: Did his plan to reveal the supers in the world that they're not alone worked? We'll never know if Casey, Mrs. Price and Joesph's act of releasing the videos have helped wake up supers to the fact that they're not alone in the world or if the Clover Group will successfully suppress the videos as fake. But, I like to hope that it did succeed. Despite whatever selfish reasons that Elijah had, and even though he killed a lot of people to find David and Kevin, he may have been an arch villain, but with this film, it was as if what he was doing a superhero type action by revealing the Clover Group's attempts at hiding superhumans from the rest of the world. Though M. Night stated he has no plans on making any other sequels, I'm hoping maybe we'll see the story continue in some other format, like in a graphic novel series (which would be rather fitting) or even as a novel series.

 

[Usagi Pilgrim]

As to whether the plan worked, I think the payoff was in a blink & you'll miss it moment. Although you see the people in the train station watching the video on their various devices, as the camera pans out, on the right if the screen, there's a large TV playing the news about the tower opening. Right before the fade to black, the report changes to the fight between the Hoarde & Overseer against a vehicle. It was supposed to be a tribute to Action Comics #1. Superman holding a car started the comic universe here, that news image began the new universe of supers there.



The fact it's getting news coverage means it's gone viral & now probably national.

I know of at least one reviewer that completely missed the point, as his reason for panning the movie as an utter failure was that he thought they were waiting for other supers to show up.

 

[CB2001]

As to whether the plan worked, I think the payoff was in a blink & you'll miss it moment. Although you see the people in the train station watching the video on their various devices, as the camera pans out, on the right if the screen, there's a large TV playing the news about the tower opening. Right before the fade to black, the report changes to the fight between the Hoarde & Overseer against a vehicle. It was supposed to be a tribute to Action Comics #1. Superman holding a car started the comic universe here, that news image began the new universe of supers there.



The fact it's getting news coverage means it's gone viral & now probably national.

I know of at least one reviewer that completely missed the point, as his reason for panning the movie as an utter failure was that he thought they were waiting for other supers to show up.

Even so, we're still in this ambiguous area as to if the plan worked or not. After that moment, maybe days, weeks or even months later, the Clover Group may have figured out how to debunk the footage and they got rid of Staple because she became a liability due to her being duped by Elijah. And even then, we don't know if there are any supers who will come forward due to the footage or not. It's rather a bitter sweet situation: yes, the word got out, but we don't know if it succeeded any farther than what we see.

 

[SickleClaw]

And now, we're left with the question: Did his plan to reveal the supers in the world that they're not alone worked? We'll never know if Casey, Mrs. Price and Joesph's act of releasing the videos have helped wake up supers to the fact that they're not alone in the world or if the Clover Group will successfully suppress the videos as fake. But, I like to hope that it did succeed. Despite whatever selfish reasons that Elijah had, and even though he killed a lot of people to find David and Kevin, he may have been an arch villain, but with this film, it was as if what he was doing a superhero type action by revealing the Clover Group's attempts at hiding superhumans from the rest of the world. Though M. Night stated he has no plans on making any other sequels, I'm hoping maybe we'll see the story continue in some other format, like in a graphic novel series (which would be rather fitting) or even as a novel series.

Id honestly like a continuation of this series as a graphic novel series. That would definitely be cool to witness. While its true that I believe there's a chance the videos might be supressed, all it takes is for a few individuals to look at the videos and be inspired. I imagine that based on what we were shown about the forum activity around the Overseer/Dunn that there were many fans of his. (his fb group had almost 2,000 fans we were shown) so its very possible that the footage could at least have inspired imitators or vigilantes.

 

[Usagi Pilgrim]

Even so, we're still in this ambiguous area as to if the plan worked or not. After that moment, maybe days, weeks or even months later, the Clover Group may have figured out how to debunk the footage and they got rid of Staple because she became a liability due to her being duped by Elijah. And even then, we don't know if there are any supers who will come forward due to the footage or not. It's rather a bitter sweet situation: yes, the word got out, but we don't know if it succeeded any farther than what we see.

I totally agree about the ambiguity of the ending, but based on what we've been shown, I believe the scales are tipped in favor of Elijah's plan working.

First, we have the prior evidence that every single plan he's set in motion has succeeded, & in the case of creating the Horde, even better than he first planned.

Secondly, I believe that Dr Staples reaction shows that her organizations forte was stopping widespread knowledge of supers from reaching the masses. Now that that info is out there, it could be more than they're prepared to handle. Although it wasn't explicitly stated in either UNBREAKABLE or SPLIT, I think the evidence of their machinations is apparent, with David commenting that there was no evidence of anyone else like him, the several news clippings that Elijah had that seemed like they didn't pan out, & the peers of Kevin's therapist trying very hard to persuade her to not present her theories about DID.

Lastly, we have the three 'survivors', if you will, continuing on, not as David or Kevin, who they were close with, but instead as true believers like Elijah. Maybe the footage gets suppressed, which I think the news report shows it wasn't, or the group tries to discredit it. The three have access & the ability to keep putting out the message, & the end result wasn't necessarily for the world at large to 'believe', but was too instead inspire those with abilities that they thought were handicaps or limitations, to realize they are powers that can be developed.

All this is just my opinion & how I saw the film. Thanks for discussing it with me.