Glass (2019) ✦ Full-Length Watchalong Reaction
Added 2024-07-29 02:30:01 +0000 UTCAnd we conclude this little series of films! This was a super fun experience! Thanks again to Jon for putting Unbreakable in a poll that kicked this all off in the first place. I'm looking forward to your comments! [Direct link here.]
✦ KL
PS. I realize that I watched through this series quickly when I have not given any others that same attention at all. I am going to try my best to make the time for some "next's" throughout the rest of this year. One of them will be this upcoming week, which you'll see in tomorrow's schedule. 😊
Comments
I love the first half of this movie alot, maybe the first 2/3s but them killing David Dunn off like that really upsets me! Unbreakable is one of my all time favorite films. I was so upset that this is the first time I've watched it since seeing it in theatres. I will say I've come around to being okay with the ending. No, nevermind it still bothers me, but everything else about the movie I really do enjoy! Especially Anya Taylor Joy and James McAvoy! Also them bringing Joseph's actor back was so awesome! I really enjoyed seeing David and his son working together in the beginning, it was awesome! Great reaction! I'm glad you enjoyed the film! Keep kicking ass and being awesome!
SomeOneGuy
2024-09-07 02:22:04 +0000 UTCAlas, this was *not* one of the last movies Bruce Willis made before he was diagnosed with aphasia. When he was promoting a different movie all the way back in 2013, there were some semi-viral moments during the press tour where he displayed some mild memory issues and slightly erratic behavior. Although nobody has come out and said it exactly, it seems like he knew he was experiencing some kind of cognitive decline for many years before he actually retired, and that in his last years, he was working as fast as he could to try and build up as much money to leave behind for his family before he had to stop working. In the span of about three years after making Glass, Willis would go onto appear in 30 movies before his retirement was officially announced in March 2022. Almost every single one of these movies was produced by the same low-budget independent film company, Emmett/Furla, which makes cheap DTV action movies starring aging movie stars, such as Robert De Niro, Nicolas Cage, John Malkovich, John Cusack, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Steven Seagal, and Mel Gibson. It's widely known that these movies, which have gained the jokey nickname "geezer teasers," will pay one household name $1m to shoot for one or two days, and then the filmmakers will spread that footage throughout the film, and that star will be prominently featured when the film comes to Netflix or Redbox. On many of those 30 movies, it was reported that Willis would need an earpiece or cue cards to feed him the lines because he could no longer remember them, and that filmmakers would have to shoot around very limited windows of availability to let him rest. (Someone above said Glass was one of those movies where this was employed, but I hadn't previously heard that -- I had gotten the impression this didn't start until 2020 or 2021.) My first issue with Glass is that while I am sure he gives more here than he gave in many of those other films he made afterward, and it's obviously not his fault, it's also clear that Willis is no longer capable of giving the level of performance he gave in Unbreakable, which is a huge handicap on any sort of storytelling that Shyamalan wants to do. It seems very obvious (although I'm technically looking for it) that much of the movie has been filmed with him silently reacting, or it is presumably a body double in the poncho. My guess is that Mr. Glass always had a supporting role in the movie, which is a strange choice for an actor as magnetic as Samuel L. Jackson, but with both Mr. Glass's part being a supporting thread and David Dunn's story compromised, the movie struggles to balance its being a sequel to Unbreakable against it being a sequel to Split. My other issue is Dr. Staple character, which may be a symptom of the first problem. Of all the characters, David seems like he would be the most responsive to her pitch, and that could have been a fascinating story to explore for the twenty or thirty minutes before Elijah reveals he's been faking his catatonia, but since Willis' dialogue seems to have been trimmed to the absolute minimum, Shyamalan can't effectively form a dynamic between them, nor can he form a secondary one between David and Kevin, with David potentially encouraging the doubt that starts to form in him. I also think it's tough because it feels like the events of Unbreakable and Glass have already painted too compelling a picture for it to be very convincing that all of this was a coincidence. In any case, if the audience did really believe and become invested in the superpowers being made up as a story possibility, then Elijah's reveal that he is awake and able to encourage The Beast to fight back would be more of an impactful twist. That said, I did appreciate the movie more as a payoff to Casey's story this time than I did the first time I saw it back in 2019. Both McAvoy and Taylor-Joy are great, and the way this material works gives the movie at least some kind of support to get by on.
Tyler Foster
2024-07-31 04:34:33 +0000 UTCThat thumbnail is inspired. Took it a second for it to register to my eyes, which made it even more fun. Genius! Overall I like this movie. It has a strong performance from McAvoy and we see more of the horde and I’m really glad we got to see David and his son working together and what he’s done with his “abilities”. But to me it is still the weakest of this trilogy. I really enjoyed M. Night dropping in some of the history of comic books. Comic readers know this, not sure others do, but in the 1950’s a psychiatrist named Fredric Wertham published a book titled Seduction of the Innocent that blamed comic books for juvenile delinquency. It became a rallying point to an already existing fervor and congressional hearings were held. There were comic book burnings all over the U.S. Churches and elementary schools were usually the hosts. Comic creators were vilified in society, the medium almost didn’t survive. There’s far more to it, but you get the gist. Anyway, I would have loved to see this moment in history tied to Dr. Staple’s group. Maybe they tried to get rid of comics as part of their effort to wipe super humans off the map. Discredit comic books and no one will believe in super humans… But the movie was already clocking in at 2 hours. That little history lesson also ties into the clip from Batman 1966 we saw in the store. Because comic books had to dramatically change course in the 1950’s there’s a direct connection to Batman and the perception that comics are for children and the reality of the time that they could only be childish. But when the series premiered it was a cultural phenomenon in 1966 that made Batman a household name and further cemented the public perception of childish comics. The tv series ran for 120 episodes in 3 seasons and one theatrical film that same year. Since you have such an affinity for the character, I recommend you watch a few episodes. Not sure there’s any demand for a reaction out there and if you didn’t see the series as a child, I don’t know how it plays without nostalgia. But you have such an open mind and positive attitude, I think you’ll appreciate it. Thanks for an entertaining reaction, as always.
Bryan Dempsey
2024-07-30 18:59:13 +0000 UTCThis movie has a Shyamalan triple twist. The 1st is the original Unbreakable/Split twist that the main characters superpowers were real. Then Sarah Paulson comes in with the 2nd twist and says NO, all these “powers” are based in reality. Then in the end Sarah Paulson hits us with the 3rd twist when she admits that it was real the whole time. M Night truly out Shyamalan’d himself on this one.
RichieRich
2024-07-30 00:37:24 +0000 UTCI haven't watched this reaction yet, but I'm glad that you apparently enjoyed this. I do agree with some others above in that this is by far the weakest of the trilogy. (This is really the movie where Shyamalan needed to go "big," but I think that's simply not his forte. He works best in small spaces with small casts.) That said, I do really enjoy parts of it. I find the ending oddly moving, and the relationship between David and his son is still sweet. Also, the cinematography is gorgeous, as it usually is in Shyamalan movies. I will note that I'm pretty sure that when this was made, Bruce Willis was already suffering from the cognitive decline that eventually forced him into early retirement. I believe that probably handcuffed Shyamalan in terms of what he could do with the characters, and may have even informed the ending. (This is all speculation on my part, but the timeline lines up.)
WastedPo
2024-07-29 22:45:03 +0000 UTCP.S. I do love the thumbnail, by the way.
Steve Mercier
2024-07-29 21:38:26 +0000 UTCThis is easily my least favorite of the 3 movies. Don't get me wrong, the acting here is great--McAvoy in particular. But for me, Elijah's great plan just isn't...great. At all. He films everything? That's it? He sacrifices all three of them so that he can film them, and then release it on the internet. Why would anybody believe the footage? Sure, there might be some folks who go down the conspiracy theory route; but, why how and/or why would the masses believe the footage is real? It's so easy to manipulate footage these days. Or to have people dress up and run around and fight. This movie was made in 2019--it was easy then to do all of that. So, again, why would anyone believe this footage to be real? And that's my big problem. Everything else is pretty good here. The acting. The build-up of tension. I'm not sure if anyone outside of Elijah really has a character arc here; but, that's okay. It's his movie. And I love the idea that Elijah--the genius villain--gets one up on everyone. I just don't think his 'one up' is...up. Anyway...I'm done now. Hope all is well with you. And if you enjoyed it...cool.
Steve Mercier
2024-07-29 21:37:16 +0000 UTCUnbreakable will always be my favourite of the 3, but I *love* how Elijah himself is always thinking several steps ahead in this; every single time you think "oh, that's what he's doing", you're just falling for his misdirections yet again. There are a few silly plot holes in Glass, but some of the ideas are so clever or unique that it's all forgivable. I particularly loved that *groups* in comics are usually very public "good guy clubs" (the Justice League, the Avengers, etc), secret organizations of bad guys (the Legion of Doom, the Black Order, etc), or a government-sanctioned entity that's on one side or the other -- but you don't usually see a group devoted to *keeping things in check*, so that was a really neat twist even on a meta level. And then all the little details pertaining to color! David/heroes are always coded green, Elijah/villains are always coded purple, and the Horde's chaos is the mustard yellow that falls in between on the color wheel; note also that the doctor (as someone who has no powers and is seeking to eliminate them altogether) is shown wearing all white multiple times. The scene where all 3 of our main characters are sat side by side in that purplish room? That scene is the very first time Elijah and the Horde are seeing each other, so that's the color mix the room gives us: purple + yellow. Seeing Casey, Elijah's mom, and Joseph in their characters' respective colors at the end is *chef's kiss*. So glad you got to go on this journey. Great work on the image on this post, BTW!
Nestor Custodio
2024-07-29 07:02:37 +0000 UTCNow that we're done, all these abilities exist in the real world, sorta. Elijah's bone condition is a real thing and we know of many people throughout history with superior intellect. David's unbreakable bones is a genetic trait but not as extreme. I read an article, the particulars escape me, but in it a doctor found a family in the northeast of the U.S. that had a genetic condition that gave them highly dense bones. But they had other issues like bad joints. And again not to the extreme of David's. And the Beast's strength, healing, etc can be attributed to mind over matter. Buddhist monks have focused on this. There are studies showing that people can cause themselves to get sick by focusing on it and heal themselves quicker than usual if need be. All through mediation of course. There was a guy that could regulate his body temperature in freezing cold water for hours and be fine. And we hear stories of mothers getting the adrenaline rush and lifting cars up to save their children. So if you could control your adrenaline glands you could have superhuman strength at will. Although you would be spent and your muscles would need time to recuperate. The point is that some times the extraordinary is that, extra-ordinary.
Carl Johnson
2024-07-29 06:49:55 +0000 UTCI'm glad it sounds like you enjoyed it. I can't watch this movie again after learning that Bruce was having real problems on set and was having most of his lines fed to him with an earpiece. Just too sad. I'll wait for your edited reaction.
djKENTO
2024-07-29 06:14:22 +0000 UTCAs individual movies, Split is my favorite. As a trilogy of movies, Glass is my favorite. I like how it wrapped up the trilogy. I do like it's different take on the super hero genre.
Yoshi1990
2024-07-29 05:26:14 +0000 UTCHow they shot that scene with Beast and David fighting in the warehouse. It's called a snorricam. It mounts to the actor.
Carl Johnson
2024-07-29 04:30:34 +0000 UTCI just want to mention with this film that James McAvoy was already incredible for how he encompassed his variety of personalities in Split but to turn each one on and off as quick as he did in this film was just insane to watch and my respect for him as an actor has just gone up since I first saw him in Wanted... Or Atonement, I don't remember which one I saw first. Either way, the man's amazing.
Nathan Jasper, the Artist Formerly Known as Primary
2024-07-29 04:17:32 +0000 UTC(There are a few intriguing possibilities but I'm hoping for The Matrix Revolutions. Less likely outside chances: Live Free or Die Hard, Doctor Sleep, Terminator 3, or Alien³.)
Tyler Foster
2024-07-29 03:02:31 +0000 UTCYou're finally getting to the widely-beloved, Academy Awards-sweeping, global box office phenomenon Independence Day: Resurgence?
Tyler Foster
2024-07-29 02:56:39 +0000 UTC
