M. Night Shyamalan's "Unbreakable," from 2000, began with a list of statistics about comic books, from the average number sold per day (172,000) to the total time a typical collector spends reading them (about one year). The movie, about a real-life superhero, seemed to require this preface to explain that comics were more popular than many of us knew. And so perhaps, like stories of UFOs or paranormal phenomenon, they contain a grain of truth.
Twenty years later, superhero myths are a main staple of any pop-cultural diet. You might think Shyamalan's attempt to continue the story of "Unbreakable" with his new film, "Glass," would feel outdated or obvious. Remarkably, it doesn't. "Glass" is not an entirely successful movie; it's mostly gripping but often a bit goofy. Still, Shyamalan's original vision of superheroes in an everyday world remains compelling and appealing.
For fans of "Unbreakable," "Glass" reunites Bruce Willis as David Dunn, a Philadelphia security guard who taps into his superpowers late in life, and Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, a self-appointed arch-nemesis. Both hero and villain have been incarcerated at Raven Hill, a psychiatric hospital where Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) insists their grandeur is merely delusion. Because the characters are kept in different rooms, they share little screen time, but the actors are in good form: Willis still oozes Dunn's sense of middle-age regret, while Jackson easily reincarnates the hyper-intelligent, ever-amused Price.
