Review - Split (2017) & Glass (2019)

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and for those who remember, back in 2020 I did a review of my personal favorite film from director M. Night Shyamalan Unbreakable, which was a superhero thriller starring Bruce Willis as David Dunn and Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price/Mr. Glass. Today, I want to finish out what Shyamalan started with Unbreakable by taking a look at the other two movies in the Eastrail 177 Trilogy. 

         Let's start off with Shyamalan's 2017 film, Split. So, this movie starts off with three teenage girls all being taken home from a party, when they are suddenly drugged and kidnapped by an unknown man. This man, referring to himself as Dennis, takes the girls to an underground area beneath the Philadelphia Zoo, and he attempts to have his way with one of the girls, but is thwarted. Later, television individual previously calling himself Dennis is now referred to as Patricia, who reassures the girls that Dennis' behavior won't happen again, and they are to be sacrificed to "The Beast." Later, Hedwig also arrives, and he befriends them despite him having the mental capacity of a nine-year-old boy. 

         Now, just what the hell is going on? How can the same man call himself Dennis, Hedwig, and Patricia? Well, all three are alternative personalities belonging to Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID for short, and he has approximately two dozen alters living in his head all at one. All of these alters came about due to Kevin suffering from childhood abuse by his mother. Now, some alters like Jade, Barry, and Orwell are somewhat reasonable and are willing to allow Kevin in "the Light" as it's called. However, the trio of Dennis, Hedwig, and Patricia are called "the Horde," and aren't supposed to have control of "the Light." Hedwig is special as he can suppress other alters, including Kevin himself, and allow the Horde to have control over Kevin's body. Yeesh. 

          As for just what "the Beast" is, well, he's Kevin's twenty-fourth alter. A hulking, animalistic monstrosity with skin as thick as a rhinoceros hide, and able to crawl along walls and ceilings. His goal is to punish "the impure," which are essentially those who haven't suffered abuse in their lives. And I think now's the time to talk about James McAvoy and his performance in this movie. It can't be easy to portray an individual with multiple personalities, but McAvoy just goes from one alter to another so seamlessly that it's amazing. And the dude looks just plain jacked as the Beast, which is the alter that gets built up as the movie goes on, and is introduction doesn't disappoint. James McAvoy definitely deserves an Oscar just for his acting chops alone based on this movie. 

         As for the three girls, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jessica Sula, and Haley Lu Richardson all did a fantastic job, as well. Each had a distinct personality, and all three were definitely likeable. Anya Taylor-Joy, however, is the main central part of this trio, as we get the backstory of her character, Casey Cooke, throughout the movie. Yeah, much like Kevin, Casey was abused as a child as well. In her case, it was her uncle who abused her in ways I don't want to get into. However, she became a stronger person because of it, and she is definitely fantastic. 

        Unfortunately, the other two girls, Claire and Marcia, are devoured by the Beast, as is Kevin's therapist Dr. Karen Fletcher (played very well by Betty Buckley, by the way). However, when the Beast realizes Casey was abused just like Kevin was, he deems her as "pure" and let's her go. The Horde is amazed by the Beast, and decide to remain loyal to him. Some time later, a news report is shown on a television in a diner, where a patron remarks a similarity between the story of Kevin and a "crazy guy in the wheelchair" that the media gave a "funny name" as well. And as she tries to remember the name, a fellow patron states the name was "Mr. Glass," and the patron who said it was none other than David Dunn. So, this scene in the diner was easily the best thing about the movie, as it was a scene no one saw coming. Somehow, Shyamalan secretly tied Split, a film produced by Universal and Blumhouse, with Unbreakable, which was a Touchstone Pictures release. Now, something that is pretty interesting is that, according to interviews, Shyamalan had intended to introduce a character like Kevin/the Horde in Unbreakable, but cut the character from the finished film, seeing as there was already a lot of story to cover between David and Elijah, so a third main character would have been too much. Luckily, we got that third character in Split, and all three of them would appear on screen together in Glass.

          Overall, Split is a unique thriller with a very different overall vibe when compared to other Shyamalan films. So, I'm giving Split a rating of 5/5. Seriously, I have no complaints about this movie. Although, many DID advocacy groups had rallied against the movie more recently for its inaccurate portrayal of the real-life disorder. And while I do sympathize, I can also just look at this movie as escapist entertainment. 

          2019 saw the release of Glass, a sequel to Unbreakable that continues the story from Split. As such, several actors and characters appear in this movie, with Bruce Willis, James McAvoy, and Samuel L. Jackson leading the film as David Dunn, Kevin Wendell Crumb, and Elijah Price. Also returning were Spencer Treat Clark as Joseph Dunn, Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, and Charlayne Woodard as Mrs. Price, with the primary newcomer of the movie being Sarah Paulson as Dr. Ellie Staple. 

        So, the years since Unbreakable, David Dunn has opened a home security shop with his son, Joseph, while also secretly operating as a poncho-wearing superhero dubbed by the media as "the Overseer." Also, he's on the lookout for Kevin Wendell Crumb/the Horde, who has abducted a new group of teen girls, and is holding them hostage in an industrial area of Philadelphia. One interesting development in terms of Kevin's alters is that many of them have joined the Horde, thus allowing them access to "the Light," with the Beast revealing his true goal: keep Kevin safe from harm. This puts him in conflict with David, who is focused on saving the group of girls that are to be fodder for the Beast. 

         During their fight, armed men arrive and use light patterns to bring one of Kevin's friendlier alters to "the Light," and both Kevin and David are apprehend and taken to Raven Hill Memorial Hospital for observation. And guess who is also a patient at Raven Hill? That's right. Mr. Glass himself, Elijah Price. Elijah is, however, under heavy sedation, and is pretty much silent and in a wheelchair for most of the movie. As for the primary doctor overseeing the trio of Kevin, David, and Elijah, Dr. Ellie Staple is a psychiatrist who specializes in individuals with a specific delusion: the belief that they are superheroes. 

       Now, as David and Kevin undergo therapy, Joseph attempts to reason with Dr. Staple to release his father, and Casey pleads with Dr. Staple to allow her to see Kevin. And when she is able to bring Kevin into "the Light," she tells him that her uncle is in jail for years of abuse he committed towards Casey. And when Hedwig regains control of "the Light," he's shocked to learn Casey likes Kevin now. Uh, yeah, Hedwig is still weird as hell. 

       Anyway, Elijah turns out to be faking his sedated state, and meets with Kevin, whose alter Patricia is in "the Light," and arranges a discussion to determine allowing Elijah to meet the Beast. All this after Elijah goes on a tangent on how he believes that comic books and superhero stories are a modern take on a long tradition of telling stories of extraordinary individuals with superhuman abilities, such as Elijah's mind, David's near invulnerability, and Kevin's body chemistry changing with each alter. 

         Unfortunately, Dr. Staple realizes that Elijah has been sneaking around outside of his room,band sets him up for a lobotomy. Elijah, however, tampered with the intensity of the laser, making the lobotomy ineffective. Elijah teams up with the Beast, released David, who retrieves his signature poncho, and the three head outside to the front entrance of the hospital. Dr. Staple, Casey, Joseph, and Mrs. Price are also there, witnessing Elijah's plan going into motion: show the world superhumans really exist. And as the Beast tears through guards, as well as David, Joseph reveals a hidden truth about Kevin's father, Clarence Wendell Crumb. Now, it was revealed in Split that Clarence Wendell Crumb died in a train accident when Kevin was a child. However, the train Clarence was on was none other than Eastrail 177. The very train Elijah derailed, where David was the sole survivor. In other words: Mr. Glass killed Clarence Wendell Crumb. Elijah confirms this, but justifies his actions by revealing that had Clarence not died on Eastrail 177, Kevin's mother wouldn't have kept abusing Kevin, and thus the Beast never would have been born. So, Mr. Glass created both the Overseer and the Beast; the latter just took longer. 

        The Beast, while thanking Elijah for what he did, realizes he can't trust Elijah with keeping Kevin safe, and shatters many of Elijah's bones. David and the Beast fight once again, and they end up in a water tank. Remember, water is David's weakness. Casey brings Kevin back to "the Light," and the guards take a shot, which causes Kevin to die, and his alters begin freaking out. Dennis shows remorse for siding with Patricia, Hedwig loses it, and eventually Kevin reclaims "the Light," so he can be with Casey in his final moments. David is drowned by the guards, and Dr. Staple shows him the truth: she is part of an organization that keeps the existence of superhumans out of the public's radar, and she would have left David alone had it not been for the Beast. Also, she tells Elijah that her organization doesn't take sides between the heroes and the villains, but can't allow either to exist, because both cause too much noise. 

         With, David, Kevin, and Elijah all dead, Dr. Staple thinks the job is done. However, there's one thing on her mind: why did Elijah use such a heavily monitored escape route to the front entrance? And the true goal is revealed: Elijah had security camera footage of himself, Kevin, and David sent to an off-site server, which Casey, Joseph, and Mrs. Price used to post the footage of Kevin and David's fight on the internet, thus revealing to the world that superhumans really exist. 

        Glass, unfortunately, wasn't nearly as well received upon release as either Unbreakable or Split. However, I personally enjoyed the movie, as it really felt like a culmination of something M. Night Shyamalan had been building up to for nineteen years. Heck, shortly after the first trailer for Glass dropped at the 2018 Sand Diego Comic-Con, I went and bought both Unbreakable and Split on Blu-ray, and now I happily own all three movies on Blu-ray. 

       For me, I think that all three of the films leads were excellent. James McAvoy, obviously, stood out the most as Kevin/the Horde, but I also enjoyed both Bruce Willis as David and Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah. And I'm glad we saw Spencer Treat Clark and Charlayne Woodard return from Unbreakable as both Joseph Dunn and Mrs. Price, respectively. Anya Taylor-Joy returning from Split as Casey is also a nice addition, while Sarah Paulson is a very different antagonistic figure as Dr. Staple. She's not necessarily a villain, but is an opposing force of our main trio. 

          Unfortunately, I do feel that setting the film predominantly in a mental hospital was a bit mundane. Also, while some may have found it cheap for the final battle to take place in front of the hospital as opposed to a major public spot as was being teased, I think it's a decent subversion of the conventions of superhero cinema. It's Shyamalan saying that not every third act final showdown in a superhero movie needs to be epic and in a place with lots of people. It just needs to be done with the people that have the biggest direct impact on the story. Also, I'm sure many will feel that David's death was unnecessary and will probably come out of the movie feeling let down. However, I feel like if you're already a fan of both Unbreakable and Split, then this was an ending to be expected.

          As far as the naming convention of this trilogy: Unbreakable was David's story, and Split was Kevin's story. Thus, despite him not being an acting force for at least half of the movie, Glass is most definitely Elijah's story. It's all about him using two superhumans he found/created to show the world that superhumans are real. I'm honestly glad that Shyamalan was able to finish out his trilogy, and I'm glad I got to see the final chapter of it in theaters. So, I'm giving Glass a rating of 5/5. 

        And with that, I have finally finished talking about the Eastrail 177 trilogy. It took me long enough since I first talked about Unbreakable, but it's finally done. Anyway guys, I hope you enjoyed this review, and I'll see you guys on Monday when we take a look at the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.