Netflix Movie of the Day: Glass is an extremely strange superhero film starring Bruce Willis, James McAvoy and Samuel L Jackson
Even by M Night Shyamalan’s usual standards, Glass is a deeply strange film. It is the third and final film in the series Unbreakable trilogy, and is about a supervillain with multiple personalities who holds a bunch of cheerleaders hostage so he can feed them to a supernatural beast. And that’s not the weirdest thing about the film, which is available on Netflix.
If Vague faces so to speak, “it’s one of the strangest, most daring superhero movies out there.” It doesn’t always work, but when it does, it’s quite something. And James McAvoy’s performance is incredible.
What did the critics think of Glass?
Reviews are very mixed: Deep focus review called it “one of Shyamalan’s worst films”. The movie review said it “should be a staple of how not to end a trilogy”. rich was more forgiving, however, and while it did not shy away from the film’s shortcomings, it praised McAvoy’s performance, saying that “Shyamalan remains an ambitious, interesting director, taking close-ups with Dutch angles and infusing even the high-profile scenes with a palpable sense of fear”.
The New Yorker wasn’t so kind, calling it a “peculiar” and “unsatisfying” film, but said it was nevertheless fascinating to watch: “the characters provide commentary throughout the course of the film – asides and explanations about the nature of superhero stories and where the plot points fit into the archetypal scheme – which supports the action, explains the characters’ motives and defines the stakes of the drama.
The New York Times praised the cast – “Jackson and especially Willis remind you once again how good they can be when asked for more than droning shtick and grins” – but said that “over time the atmosphere of mistrioso, quiet and intrusive, consuming terror gives way to male snarling, clenching and vein-ripping, and everything falls to pieces in a poorly conceptualized and staged outburst.” Despite this, “for the most part, there’s enough in the film—sneaky cameras, off-color boos, dazzling mauve, and especially the three male leads—to compensate for its long runtime, obvious padding, and rickety plots.”
It may not be one of the best Netflix movies today, but if you loved it Unbreakableand followed it up Divideit’s definitely worth finishing one of the longest and most surprising superhero trilogies we’ve ever had.