Glass | Jan 18, 2019 | The 22nd Most Profitable Movie of 2019

[Frozen]

44 minutes ago, Darth Lehnsherr said:

Is there a spoiler thread for Glass?

 

Nope 😐

[KJsooner]

Just got back from Glass. I really didn’t care much of it. It’s not that I don’t ‘like’ it, I just felt very meh and underwhelmed after leaving the theater. Very indifferent feeling towards the movie.

 

Gotta say this is the most disappointing movie experience I’ve had in at least 5 years. I was so looking forward to this movie after the tremendous success of and Split and Unbreakable is of course awesome. I had been looking forward to this movie for years, and it was just a misfire(How do you fuck this up Shyamalan?) I was bewildered after leaving the theater. This movie was supposed to be great. Not the messy crap I watched tonight.

 

The acting performances were fine, I felt the movie around them was a complete mess. 

[Hunch]

Shyamalan needs to find another hook for a movie and make an original self-contained film. That's where he succeeds. His films live and die by how good that initial set up is. Kid who sees dead people or creepy grandparents who aren't what they seem? Great! Plants that make you commit suicide or woman from a future novel that climbs out of pool? Flop.

[RealLyre]

11 hours ago, Darth Lehnsherr said:

unfortunately David Dunn doesn't get much to do other than some decent action scenes. 

 

by decent action scenes you mean 2 people hugging each other for a minute?

 

 

 

[cubsfan]

I actually really enjoyed it.  I went in expecting it to be a complete mess and walked out enjoying every minute of it.

 

[Crainy]

Did people seriously expect this movie to be some bombastic action movie finale? Thats not Nights deal at all and not the impression I got from the trailers, either. I havent seen the movie yet, but if thats supposed to be the "bait and switch" people are talking about, then ooooh boy. From the trailers and the movies this is a sequel to, I fully expect this to be a slow, methodic and emotional drama.

[TimmyRiggins]

Okay, so let's get things straight before some folks go crazy and spew their hate on this. 

 

DO not go in expecting this to be in any way like a conventional superhero or comic book film, I mean, I thought that'd be expected but seeing some of the complaints, it doesn't seem to be. This is anything but. DO not expect "big" action set pieces, I mean, duh, but this is a $20 million budget and those folks are still real people of sorts in the real world.

 

I've been a massive fan of Unbreakable since I was a kid, it's a masterpiece, a classic, I really like Split although I'm not in love with it. And I'm relieved that I really dug Glass. The critical reception is kind of outrageous and shameful, I know why the film causes those "split" reactions but it's way too low in terms of score. I'll say this though, this is the kind of film that will make people enraged and cause them to lash out and spit their venom. And it'll also have a lot of passionate fans for that same reason.

 

It feels very much in the continuation of Unbreakable in terms of mood, feel. The first 20 min are very satisfying and cool and deliver what I guess is what you'd sort of expect from a film like this. I'm judging the film for what it is but part of me does wish the film was even longer and we could have spent a bit more time in that situation. It seems some folks have a lot of trouble with what comes next and mainly that the following chunk of the film, the major part of it, takes place in one location which I thought the trailers had conveyed. Shya's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest as he referred to it.

 

I never was bored, it felt like a logical and interesting way to go with this deconstruction of sorts, I've seen critics taking aim at the film for essentially 

Spoiler

putting the characters in a situation that's completely at odds with what the audience knows, ie that we KNOW that David, Elijah and Kevin are not just mere humans. But Paulson and her character and what's she saying and how that impacts Joseph, Casey or Elijah's mom (mainly the first two) who start to doubt and question their reality.

 

And that leads to really thought provoking and powerful introspective moments of sorts. And all this is not only expertly directed by Shyamalan, it's also strongly acted with Willis showing up to work, yes, he's not in it that much, which when I read about that, disappointed me at first, but in the body of the film, it works considering this is an ensemble film, but I do wish a bit that we had more time with him. McAvoy continues on what he did in Split and is even better, L. Jackson doesn't skip a beat and it does feel like him and Willis have stepped onto the set right out of Unbreakable. The supporting players are strong.

 

Gioulakis' cinematography doesn't touch Eduardo Serra's beautiful work on Unbreakable (and god, do I wish they'd shot Glass on anamorphic 35mm film) but it's very well shot, there are especially a lot of interesting mirror shots, perspectives (POV shots), Shyamalan has always known how to move the camera extremely well. Yes, Newton Howard is not there but you better believe that several classic Unbreakable themes are present and are oh so good. West Dylan Thordson composed an excellent score with especially one theme, which I'd call David's second theme, which is GORGEOUS. In IMAX, it really goes deep in the low end and makes the film even bigger. 

 

The final 20 min is where many people will be upset at the film, Shyamalan, and many will probably fly into a rage. I do wish 

Spoiler

that David and Kevin hadn't died. I think David died too easily?! But remembering Unbreakable and the pool scene, it was established that he's really just a human being when he's underwater. I wanted him to survive. Elijah biting it makes sense. Kevin, well, Kevin was in his Kevin personality when he gets shot by the sniper. Had he been in Beast mode, he would have survived I'm sure. 

 I'm fully on board, I do wish the action had been bigger somehow but the truth is, M.Night had to work within the budget he had. The action we get, even though it's minor, I really like and you have to remember this isn't a DC or Marvel film, this is the real world of sorts and it works. I agree though that perhaps several scenes at the end could have done without things being said out loud and spelled out but let's just say that in one such scene, it makes sense in that regard.

 

So yeah, the final 20 min, I can see why people have such completely varied reactions on the whole spectrum. One bit is set up, so I wasn't surprised when it came up, some won't buy it but I did. And Shya does set up another thing that gets you all hyped up obviously, 

Spoiler

and then PULLS the rug ah ah. 

 

It might have happened had the film had a bigger budget though. The final twist though, I think, is absolutely beautiful and powerful and the film itself is powerful. There's a lovely and important message at the end really, one that will be buried beneath all the vitriol from those who dislike the film. But it makes it very much of the same mold as Unbreakable, it's probably more powerful than most superhero films you'll ever see. It's something that makes it closer in sensibility to Zack's MOS or BvS for example (don't go nuts). I still need to digest it and reflect on it, but boy, this is a movie with actual substance, with a soul and this is a film that will get people talking no matter what they think. 

 

There could be sequels, definitely, the possibilities off that ending are so numerous and enticing. I do hope that M.Night will reconsider. I have no idea what the general audience reaction will be on this. If it lands close to Unbreakable, that'd be pretty neat, I somehow remembered Unbreakable bombing but it did 250 M on a 75 M budget, that's pretty good. 

 

Gotta say, I would kill to see what Shyamalan would have done with a bigger budget. I figure that knowing how it works with studio films, he kept the budget to a level he could afford to finance so he could make the film he truly wanted to make without any interference as he did on a much smaller level on The Visit and Split. Unbreakable was $75 million and this doesn't feel far from it in terms of production values.

Edited January 18, 2019 by TimmyRiggins

[lilmac]

1 hour ago, TimmyRiggins said:

Okay, so let's get things straight before some folks go crazy and spew their hate on this. 

 

 

I feel a lot better after reading your post. If it’s a continuation of Unbreakable then I am all in. I plan to see it tonight. 

 

We Unbreakable Fanatics are a small group. Smaller than the Unbreakable fan base. Glass was marketed like a mainstream tent pole. It is not. You are either chemically, psychologically, hormonally, whatever - oriented toward what Unbreakable was trying to accomplish or you are not. 

[cubsfan]

3 minutes ago, lilmac said:

I feel a lot better after reading your post. If it’s a continuation of Unbreakable then I am all in. I plan to see it tonight. 

 

We Unbreakable Fanatics are a small group. Smaller than the Unbreakable fan base. Glass was marketed like a mainstream tent pole. It is not. You are either chemically, psychologically, hormonally, whatever - oriented toward what Unbreakable was trying to accomplish or you are not. 

I loved it.  It was way better then the reviews have you believe.  

 

 

Edited January 18, 2019 by cubsfan

[TimmyRiggins]

The trailers sell the action beats but there's just not that much action in there, I just hope folks who are not that familiar with Unbreakable don't hype themselves up too much on the action aspect because this is such a different beast. Had the film had a bigger budget, I guess it's very possible M.Night would have amped up that aspect but it feels very realistic within that world that was set up in Unbreakable and I think what he pulls off is admirable and so ambitious. I gotta say, there's more and more films rotten on RT, sometimes in the lower 30s that I really like or love, it's just happening more and more. 

Edited January 18, 2019 by TimmyRiggins

[The Futurist]

No intergalactic fights between aliens and superheroes on multiple battlegrounds ?

I m disapoint.

[TimmyRiggins]

By the way, one of the very cool bits at the end of the film has HUGE implications, so so cool.

[baumer]

Glass is not as good as I hoped it would be but it's much much better than the critics will have you believe it is. I understand the direction that night went with it but I think he made a huge mistake with his thought process in this one. The first third of it in my opinion is really good the last third of it is pretty good the middle of it meanders a bit and I think it could have been cut down a little bit. Overall I would give it a 7 out of 10 whereas I gave split a 9 out of 10 and I gave unbreakable a 10 out of 10.

[cubsfan]

1 minute ago, Christmas baumer said:

Glass is not as good as I hoped it would be but it's much much better than the critics will have you believe it is. I understand the direction that night went with it but I think he made a huge mistake with his thought process in this one. The first third of it in my opinion is really good the last third of it is pretty good the middle of it meanders a bit and I think it could have been cut down a little bit. Overall I would give it a 7 out of 10 whereas I gave split a 9 out of 10 and I gave unbreakable a 10 out of 10.

That's what I don't get?  It's absurd that critics are pouncing on it to a tune of 30's on RT.  

[TimmyRiggins]

5 minutes ago, cubsfan said:

That's what I don't get?  It's absurd that critics are pouncing on it to a tune of 30's on RT.  

MT is at 42, it's usually more nuanced than RT but it's ridiculous either way. It's happening more and more honestly. I don't know, critics are also more and more judging the film on what they want it to be rather than for what it is but that can't explain it all. Who knows, human nature is weird

[Eric Atreides]

8 minutes ago, cubsfan said:

That's what I don't get?  It's absurd that critics are pouncing on it to a tune of 30's on RT.  

o·pin·ion

/əˈpinyən/

noun

 

1. a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.

[DAJK]

Just curious does this retain any of the horror/thriller elements of split, or is it more nuanced and dramatic

[Macleod]

18 minutes ago, CoolEric258 said:

o·pin·ion

/əˈpinyən/

noun

 

1. a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.

The problem is that the entire art of film criticism has changed with the evolution of the internet.  People not schooled in film analysis are becoming verified "critics" and numerous critics themselves are pandering to "fan culture."  It's a mix of problems from both ends.  But earlier film criticism was about more than just "an opinion."

 

People who were film critics in the classical sense were knowledgeable about film history and how the technology and art developed, so they were able to analyze it with more than just "an opinion."  But contemporary super-fans don't understand any of that unless they study films critically (meaning *reading* about them as well as watching them) and in many cases, going to graduate school for it. 

 

There's a theory and art to cinema that arguably escapes the common general audience, who seemingly care less and less about nuance and theme, because of course the major studios and filmmakers are giving less and less of it to them. 

 

I'm a big supporter of Unbreakable, but couldn't buy into Glass. 

[Julian1410]

32 minutes ago, DAJK said:

Just curious does this retain any of the horror/thriller elements of split, or is it more nuanced and dramatic

There are Some thriller elements but overall the film continues the ambiance of unbreakable which is more dramatic and focussed On the characters. I thought the film was very entertaining and good but that ending is gonna cause for a lot of division. It’s just a bit weird that that ending was the bigger plan that M. Night had for this franchise.  

[Ryan Reynolds]

Good film, favorite superhero since Logan , dont listen to critics