Trilogies are difficult. They used to be relatively rare and plagued by periodic order disappointments. The Godfather Part III. The proliferation of superhero movies over the past 25 years has increased their number, and probably also their batting average, considering Christopher Nolan’s relatively well-received films. dark Knight trilogy or that of James Gunn Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. But the very success of these films can also be destructive to the three-film arc; Who wants to be stuck with three movies when a fourth or fifth could work just as well? (That’s why it seems unlikely that the MCU’s Spider-Man movies with Tom Holland will remain a trio.) Yes, trilogies are difficult, and finishing them is even more difficult.
Which brings us to the work of M. Night Shyamalan. Glasswhich recently appeared in Netflix’s Top 10, along with its predecessor Split. Both films are continuations (one secret, one more publicized) of his 2000 fantasy. Unbreakableforming a trilogy of horror-inflected superhero films that is, in its own strange way, among the best superhero trilogies out there.
Emphasis on the “out there”; Shyamalan has spent many of the years since his Sixth Sense Triumph showing how rare and idiosyncratic it can be. In recent small-scale thrillers like A knock in the cabin and Old, it seems easier for both critics and audiences to accept this oddity with the intimacy of small, family-friendly ensembles. He Unbreakable The trilogy is spread across a larger canvas, simply working within the largest film subgenre of the 21st century. However, two of the three releases ended up feeling ill-timed: Unbreakable It came out in 2000, just a few months after X Men revived the superhero genre, while Glass It came out in 2019, amid the wait between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers Endgamelooking strange and out of touch next to this giant.
The trilogy follows David Dunn (Bruce Willis), a melancholic man who in Unbreakable He survives a huge train accident and realizes that he has superhuman strength and powers that allow him to sense danger when touching people; a man with multiple personalities nicknamed the Horde (James McAvoy), who captures a group of teenagers in Split; and, finally, their intersection with each other, as well as UnbreakableSelf-proclaimed supervillain Elijah, also known as Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson).
It is difficult to overcome the painful sadness and mystery of Unbreakableand Split It stands on its own as a fun and effective exploitation film. This left Glass set to disappoint in 2019, with many pointing out at the time how the pontification on the nature of comic book characters, so unexpected and fascinating in Shyamalan’s novel Sixth Sense years before, it felt more and more like the work of someone with no particular experience in how Glass. Syamalan also doesn’t pay much attention to the superhero movie trend that was arguably peaking at exactly the right time. Glass It originally hit theaters.
This suggested lack of insight into the finer points of the genre across all media may be true; Throughout his film, Shyamalan tends to speak in generalities, citing fun facts about action comics #1 (and license a clip of the old live action) bat Man TV series of all things) rather than true obscurities (or even the history of the comic book medium extending beyond 1960 or so). But his style is perfect for distilling comic-style characters down to their human essence, rather than trying to blow them up to mythical, universe-widening proportions. A genuine nod to the spread of superhero culture comes courtesy of the film’s semi-secret villain, Dr. Staple (Sarah Paulson), who wants to convince David, the Horde, and Glass that all her powers are in her head. , points out that comic. Books are made to sell things, like television shows aimed at teenagers. Although it emerged from a fan-mocking mid-credits scene in Split, Glass It has its sights set on the immediate moment, not on the next round of synergy.
Watch, for example, how Shyamalan and his cinematographer Mike Gioulakis film the first big fight between Dunn and the Horde. Neither McAvoy nor Willis are martial artists, much less super-powered inpiduals, and the movie isn’t really budgeted for a massive explosion. Plus, Shyamalan doesn’t seem interested in pulling that kind of punch (something that would frustrate even some fans by the end of the movie). Instead, the film uses a kind of graphic simplicity: reverse shots to convey the disorientation felt by the group of girls Dunn is rescuing and by Dunn himself as the Horde scamper around the room; close-ups that fix the camera on Dunn’s face and the enveloping arms of the Horde; shadow figures, instead of full body push-ups.
Mr. Glass’s plan in the final film involves a display of destruction that will bring super-powered inpiduals like Dunn and the Horde out of the shadows, exposing them to the world. (This will presumably also bring meaning to Glass’s life, a dream deferred since he revealed himself to Dunn at the end of Unbreakable.) Seen from a further perspective, as superhero movies begin to lose their automatic shine, there’s something poignant about the way Glass presents a clash between two emerging superheroes as a parking lot skirmish between a man suffering a superhuman amount of pain and a man who has achieved his ability to endure profound sadness. Like in Unbreakablewhere the train accident that caused the accident is alluded to but not seen directly, the film breaks down its conflict into suggestive images, full of tactile surfaces: the impact of a body against the side of a truck, the plastic police shield that barely protecting an officer from a werebeast, the skin-to-skin contact of a former victim (Anya Taylor-Joy) who approaches the Horde in search of the man inside her changing body.
The final moments of Glass It overreaches a bit given the precision and simplicity of what came before, pandering to Shyamalan’s weakness for self-actualization nonsense. But it’s also rare for a superhero trilogy finale to feel comfortably concluded, rather than rushed or reluctant in its final moment. He Unbreakable The trilogy will always feel unbalanced, with one entry preceding the other two by 17 years, a gap not all that different from the one between godfather ii and godfather iii. He, too, will always feel wonderfully and imperfectly human.
Jesse Hassenger@rockmarooned) is a writer who lives in Brooklyn. He is a regular contributor to The AV Club, Polygon, and The Week, among others. He podcasts on www.sportsalcohol.comalso.
Stream Glass on netflix