Just got done watching the latest addition to the surprise Unbreakable-Trilogy. "Split" was a fascinating movie that clearly is an excellent standalone story; however, finding out that it actually shared a universe with "Unbreakable" opened up a whole bunch of possibilities, not least of which was the chance to delve into the superhero lore entailed in the fairly grounded world of Unbreakable.
The movie immediately thrusts us into the thick of things. David Dunn (Bruce Willis) continues his vigilante ways, now currently known as "The Overseer". His son, Joseph (reprised by Spencer Treat Clark), aids him in this effort as his "guy in the chair" to provide him with relevant info. They currently have their eyes set on Kevin Wendell Crumb aka "The Horde" (James McAvoy). Since he let his beast persona run rampant, he has carved a trail of destruction throughout the city, and, as per his modus operandi, has kidnapped yet another set of individuals. The stage is set for these two individuals to meet and sparks do fly when they meet. Having never faced an equal, their initial encounter is humbling for the both of them. Suffice it to say, sometime after this encounter they end up confined to an asylum under the watch of Dr. Staple (Sarah Paulson); the aforementioned asylum also coincidentally happens to house our favourite antagonist Elijah Price aka Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson), conscious, but thoroughly sedated and kept under wraps. On cue, the appearance of the two super-powered individuals reinvigorates him and reignites his joie de vivre.
This movie is a fulfilling slow-burn, similar to both Unbreakable and Split; however, unlike its two predecessors, it runs at a faster pace. Unbreakable gave us a more grounded universe, and did not have much in terms of action scenes; this movie gives us a few more action scenes, but even better than that is an underlying intensity and sense of urgency that kept me enthralled through the whole movie. The acting chops of the 3 leads in their Protagonist, Antagonist and Deuteragonist roles is impressive; this movie sequentially follows their 3 arcs and makes extensive use of flashbacks to carefully knit this universe in some unsuspected ways. James McAvoy is a joy to watch. Seeing him dissolve into the various personalities is a thing of beauty. Even after all this time, I distinctly remembered the proper and domineering "Patricia", the OCD and ever serious "Dennis" and innocent "Hedwig". Impressively, we get to see more personalities exhibited this time around, if only for small fleeting moments. Undoubtedly, McAvoy receives more of the spotlight so that he can shine.
Samuel L. Jackson is ever the thunderous voiced villain. Some of his portrayal of Mr. Glass is merely physical, but even then you still get the impression that there's a lot bubbling under the surface - planning, scheming, mischief. Though he's up to no good, he's the kind of villain that you find yourself empathizing with.
Bruce Willis is subdued in his representation of the reluctant hero. The only sad thing is that his character supposedly disappears for an extensive portion of the second act (which is a tragedy). His David Dunn, far from being the kind of hero upon whom people heap praise, is held in deep suspicion and the police basically make him a marked man. Despite this, he continues to risk life and limb to do what only he can do to keep people safe.
The supporting cast is also great, adding more layers to the story; the movie also benefits from a great script and beautiful cinematography. I think most people will be fine with this movie, until it gets to its final act. Just when everything promises to propel us into a fiery climax, Mr. Shyamalan decides to take us on a different tangent. A lot of people who have reviewed this movie were turned off by this turn of events. This director is famous for his use of plot-twists in his earlier movies, so it isn't something unexpected from him; the direction he chooses is really anticlimactic. I can understand that this movie threatened to join the mould of other big blockbuster superhero movies in the manner in which it plays out, so Shyamalan chose to ground it further to fit in with his vision. It unfortunately unfurls a thread that leaves a big unanswered question at the movie's end. From a movie franchise standpoint, it means that he could pelt us with another sequel at any time if he so chooses; however, it feels like an injustice to the groundwork that was beautifully laid out in both Unbreakable and Split. A good analogy would be for us to be given "Avengers: Infinity War" without the prospect of an "Avengers: Endgame". It just can't end this way.
The ending is truly conflicting; this seems like too beautiful a movie for it to come down to this. As such, I will be splitting my rating for this movie:
- the stellar work of everything that went into the mix: A
- the ending: B-
God Bless
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