In no particular order.
This movie passes the Tondro Test, which means it makes me want to run an RPG in the setting.
I’d love to read an analysis of “movies in which victory occurs by going viral.” Some of these movies are the Core, Birdman, and Glass, but there must be many many more in the last 10 years.
How did you all think this movie was going to end? It’s called Glass. Mr. Glass was always going to win in the end. And did we think David, Glass, or the Beast were going to just walk off into the sunset?
The weakest bit is the secret society with the clover symbol. Is that their name? What do we call them?
But the fact that the doctor was a bad guy was obvious at least as early as the triple-examination scene, by her conspicuous refusal to allow David to touch her. After the end of Unbreakable, anyone David doesn’t touch is presumed guilty.
Getting the same actor to come back and play Joseph was such a coup. Was the actress for Glass’s mom the same? She looked to be in heavy makeup to me.
Going back into David’s old house was amazing. The staircase he floated up with Audrey. The same kitchen table where so many key scenes from the original film take place. That scene carries a lot of weight. And yes, David mourns the loss of his wife. But we know from that scene that he told her what he was, and they didn’t get divorced, so she must have supported him on it. And in her absence, David and Joseph have forged a life and a path. They smile and joke. They’re happy. Audrey’s loss was enormous, but they have healed.
I liked the use of the scene with young Elijah at the amusement park. Those of us who have seen the Criterion edition of Unbreakable know that scene was included in that version, but more casual viewers would not have seen the footage before.
David continues to appear in frames, as he does in the first film. I think this only happens when the Beast isn’t around though. I need to watch this film a couple more times.
Green has always been an unusual choice for David’s color. I think it’s in Origins of Marvel Comics that Stan relates how, in early comics, both green and purple were reserved for villain characters and, eventually, anti-heroes like Hulk and Hawkeye (remember: a criminal before he became an ex-con hero). I mean, it should really be blue. But I’m not complaining, I like the green.
Along those lines, everyone does know that the orange-suited house invader in Unbreakable was originally going to be the Beast, right? Which is why the Beast is now yellow, instead of orange. Because orange was taken.
I suspect part of the reason this film feels anticlimactic and muddled is because Mr. Glass does such a good job of convincing everyone, including the audience, that the final reel will take place at the big high rise tower. Everyone is waiting to go to the tower, so the parking lot fight feels like a dragging second act. And when we don’t go there, the audience feels ripped off.
This is a movie about being your best true self. And even Kevin gets to do it. He takes the light, which is control over his own life.
I have forgotten the name of the girl, the survivor from Split. There’s so much going on with her. So, apparently she goes to the same high school Joseph and David attended. Notice how her clothing has changed; she’s no longer covering up her entire body, ashamed of her scars. She’s okay with the world seeing who she really is. At first, I was afraid we were getting some unpleasant “in love with her terrorizer” Stockholm Syndrome thing for her, but I hoped Shyamalan was better than that and of course he was. She was after Kevin. She wanted to do for Kevin what he and the rest of the Hoard had done for her—help him to become his best self.
Speaking of Shyamalan, this now confirms that his character in Split is the same character as he is in Unbreakable, which I think is hilarious.
Shyamalan has created a universe now, which needs an ongoing series or multimedia tie in or something. I want to see what happens next. The people who, inspired by the Overseer (I really prefer Green Guardian, but hey), Mr. Glass, and yes, even the Beast, rise to become their best selves. He even set up a big, faceless, bad guy for our anti-heroes to unite against. I mean, this is happening, right? Right?
The review on IO9 called this movie a giant middle finger to the superhero genre. This is the stupidest, most wrong review headline I have ever read. This movie is a love letter to the superhero genre.
This movie was produced in the alternate Earth where Bryan Singer’s X-Men was never made, and where superhero movies were killed by Batman Forever. This is what superhero movies would look like, if that had happened.
