Sound Off! Glass

Welcome back to Sound Off!, a semi-regular column where members of Speculative Chic gather together to chat about the latest BIG THING in entertainment. This time, bring together heroes and villains and discuss Glass, which premiered in the United States on Friday, January 18, 2019.

Sound Off! is meant to be a reaction, but not necessarily a review. After all, while we are all individuals, even mutual love of something (or hate) can come from different places: you may find everything from critique to fangirling to maybe even hate-watching.

Now, join Shara White as she talks about Glass. [Note: Lots of spoilers after the big red warning!]

Shara: First and foremost, without spoilers: if you enjoyed Unbreakable and/or Split, go see this movie. Glass completes the long-fabled Unbreakable trilogy that we were promised back in 2000, and furthermore, in this current climate of comic-fueled movies, it’s wonderful to have a story that’s an original screenplay. Yes, the history of comics heavily influences the events of Glass (just like they did Unbreakable), but my point is, if you enjoyed the first two, you’ve got to watch this one. I had no idea how this movie would end, and by time it was over, I was more than satisfied. It also helped that I’d re-watched both Unbreakable and Split before seeing Glass in theaters. If you haven’t watched either of those movies recently, I highly recommend it.

Now, if you’ve already seen Glass, or don’t mind spoilers going into the movie, I’d like to talk about it a lot more specifically, and I’ll be ranging between light to specific spoiler territory (not only for Glass, but also Unbreakable and Split). Ready?

Seriously, spoilers ahead. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

So, what did I love?

Spencer Treat Clark: I admit, I’ve not previously been a fan of the actor (mostly because I’d only ever seen him in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., where he was a colossal a-hole, which means that really, he’s a good actor), but I was tickled pink when I saw him in Glass. Why? Because he originally played Joseph Dunn, David Dunn’s young son in Unbreakable. To see him reprise that role was just awesome, and not something that could’ve happened as effectively if the Unbreakable trilogy had played out within a few years of Unbreakable’s release. Clark has a unique face — so unique that I recognized him immediately when we re-watched Unbreakable. Seeing the same actor was such a thrill, because the character always believed in his dad, and it was powerful watching the same man go through that same love, support, and fear regarding his father. I love that father and son went on and created their own home security business, that Joseph is his father’s Alfred. I also love that it’s taken 19 years for the nickname “The Overseer” to stick in regards to David Dunn’s vigilante persona.

James McAvoy: I was impressed with McAvoy’s acting chops in Split, where he played a rotating cast of different identities trapped in the body of one man, namely Dennis, Patricia, Hedwig, and the Beast. Yes, we met other identities in Split, but I was just really wowed and impressed here in Glass, because here, Horde is vulnerable, and they’re fighting for control of the light. Regulars at Speculative Chic know I’m a huge fan of Tatiana Maslany’s seamless ability to act as 21+ characters in a single show, Orphan Black, often interacting with each other, so for me to be impressed with McAvoy’s ability to portray and distinguish between the various alters is high praise. I think Patricia is my favorite: her primness is just so distinct.

Interconnectivity: there are a lot of threads that link all three movies together, and it’s impressive, since viewers didn’t even know Split was a backdoor sequel to Unbreakable until the very end. I don’t want to spoil ALL THE THINGS, so I’ll say this much: pay attention to M. Night Shyamalan’s cameo, how scenes at the comic shop are utilized, and of course, the big reveal from Mr. Glass himself that literally ties everyone together. I know there’s so much more that I missed, but that just makes for great fodder upon re-watch.

Doubt of powers: One of the tried-and-true tropes of superhero stories is one where the hero/heroine loses their power for whatever reason. It’s not a trope I’m typically fond of, but here it’s done with great subtlety. Sarah Paulson’s Dr. Ellie Staple introduces herself as an expert in her field, and her field focuses on individuals who have the delusion that they’re superpowered. As she interviews and interacts with each person (save for Mr. Glass — I’ll get to him in a bit), she plants the seeds of doubt with both David Dunn and Horde, to the point that we, as viewers, also wonder whether she’s right, if the events of the first two movies are somehow tricks of the mind, results of adrenaline rushes. It’s well played, so much so that I didn’t even see it as a “loss of powers” trope until I was writing this.

Support system: Because of, or in spite of, their actions, David Dunn, Mr. Glass, and Horde each have someone who cares about them, who wants to see their person alive, well, and out of these shackles. David has his son Joseph, Mr. Glass has his mother (with Charlayne Woodard reprising her role from Unbreakable), and Horde, surprisingly, has Casey Cooke, the lone survivor from the Beast’s rampage in Split. I’ll talk more about that particular development below, but looking at it from the whole, each superpowered person has someone who genuinely cares for them, and I can’t stress how awesome that is. None of these supers are alone.

The End: No, I’m not spoiling the ending. I’m not that kind of monster. But I did love how it all came together, how the thread of comic book tropes informed the plot, but also how I was kept guessing. I had no idea how the movie would end, and I have to say it was worth it.

Now, for the things I found a bit problematic:

Mr. Glass: For a movie that’s supposed to be all about him, he’s largely a non-player for most of it. He’s been institutionalized the entire time, and is only now getting reunited with his friend David Dunn, as well as meeting Horde. The issue is, at least as it’s explained to the viewer, that Mr. Glass is so intelligent that they have to keep him completely sedated, so he’s basically stuck in a wheelchair, staring off into nothing, twitching a bit. It’s heartbreaking, but also thrilling when the viewer realizes he’s been screwing with the staff the whole time, switching out the sedative for aspirin. That said, it isn’t until the very, very end that we realize why this movie belongs to him, because for so much of it, it felt like M. Night Shyamalan’s version of The Avengers or Justice League, where we finally bring all of the heroes and villains together to see what happens. Perhaps one can argue that Unbreakable was as much Mr. Glass’ movie as it was David Dunn’s. Certainly, we wouldn’t have David Dunn as a hero without Mr. Glass, but still, there’s a part of me that hates this movie wasn’t more driven by him. Yes, I know that if you’ve seen it, you know it really IS driven by him, and that’s why I found this problematic, despite rolling with it: we just don’t see what’s really happening until the very end.

Casey Cooke: Okay, can I just say that first of all, I love how we learn she’s with a foster family, and that her experience with Horde is what gave her the courage to turn her uncle in so that now he’s in jail? AMEN. But her Stockholm’s syndrome, while a VERY REAL THING, bugged me a bit. The little stresses from Hedwig that he used to have a girlfriend and they kissed once, while funny and right in line with how a nine-year-old would talk, tweaked that annoyance, which further bloomed into a kind of bittersweet tragedy when we see Casey interact and bring Kevin into the light. This sense of love conquering all really had alarm bells going off in my head. I mean, this is the man who imprisoned her, who killed her friends, who terrorized her. But…it’s one body, but a lot of different personalities. Some of those personalities are female. Jade is legitimately diabetic, Dennis is an absolute germ-a-phobe, and of course, the Beast is a monster. Casey, it seems, developed a real kinship for the owner of the body, Kevin Wendell Crumb, during Split (especially after watching all those videos the alters made of themselves), and I think that kinship created a kind of love and compassion and empathy that ended up really turning the tables toward the end. My side-eye of Stockholm’s syndrome ends up being a kind of moot point, even though it informs Casey’s actions in Glass (seriously, she wears the Philadelphia Zoo jacket she’d gotten in Split). Is it fair to find her both a tragic and powerful character? Is it a bad thing that I’m writing a fanfic in my head where, in the future, she and Joseph Dunn hook up, because they can relate to each other more than anyone could ever know? Just asking, for a friend.

Cinematic shots: Okay, so there was some cool stuff, specifically in regards to use of color (purple for Mr. Glass, yellow for Horde, green for David Dunn). But I found the extreme close-ups annoying. They were shot in a way that the actors talked directly to another character, but that other character they were making eye-contact with ended up being the audience. So while Dr. Ellie Staple was talking to Horde, she was actually making eye contact with the audience, and when Horde was reacting to her, he was actually reacting to the audience. It makes more sense if you’ve seen the movie, or at least the trailers, but I found this technique distracting.

Music: Why wasn’t it James Newton Howard?!?!?!? WHY!?!?!?! I know he didn’t do Split either, but at least Split sampled the original and gorgeous Unbreakable score, which made the lack of those themes REALLY OBVIOUS in Glass. No offense to West Dylan Thordson, and I’m sure I’d enjoy his music in any other context, but the fact that the music created was meant to sort of evoke those previous musical themes but couldn’t drove me batty.

David Dunn’s arc: In Unbreakable, we spend a lot of time with David and his doubts of what Elijah, aka Mr. Glass, is telling him, which makes the climax to Unbreakable so powerful, when he finally accepts what he is, saves peoples’ lives, and lets his son, who believed in him all along, in on the secret. It’s a beautiful, beautiful moment. And…it’s kind of repeated here? Don’t get me wrong, I loved the way doubt was planted for both the characters and the audience, but unfortunately, we’ve already seen David Dunn have to come to terms with his powers and what he thinks he can and cannot do. And we’ve seen Joseph Dunn have those moments of doubt, even though he’s seen for himself what is father can do. It’s a double-edged sword. And while I’m on the topic of Dunn’s arc, what about Horde’s and Mr. Glass’? Horde’s moment of doubt is earned and needed, because Horde never doubted in the first movie, even when everyone else did. Mr. Glass, though…for a movie named after him, I have to ask, what was his arc anyway?

Overall:

It’s a great movie, and the reveals and twists at the end are truly earned. I do wonder if there’s a set-up for another movie set in this universe, or if this “origin story” is enough. Either way, if you’re a fan of the first two movies, you should enjoy this one. It’s not perfect, but it’s still really enjoyable, and one I look forward to watching again.