What I Watched In February

GLASS (2019) is the final part of M. Night Shamalan's long delayed trilogy focused on his personal vision of superheroes and villains. When SPLIT (2017) was released and turned out to be a stealth sequel to UNBREAKABLE (2000) this film became inevitable and much anticipated. With all of Shamalan's past missteps and bad ideas I was worried that he might find a way to blow his chance at a cohesive tale but it turns out he succeeded quite admirably. Indeed, I was very impressed with only one caveat.

Bruce Willis seems to be only occasionally bringing his 'A' game to the screen these days. I rewatched the first film to refresh myself with the entire mythology of the series before seeing GLASS. This served as a sharp reminder of how good Willis was back then and particularly in this role. He brought a careful quiet strength to the character that played perfectly with his director's filmmaking style. In the new film he only seems completely engaged about 70% of the time. There are scenes in which he looks bored or is simply going through the motions of enacting the basics of the script. He is effective when he needs to be but as soon as the focus is off him or diluted with other details it's as if his concern for the material is barely there. This is a massive shame as the rest of the cast is working their asses off bring this fascinating story to it's dark conclusion. If Willis is as rich as I suspect he might be, perhaps it's time he retired.

I understand that there has been an quantity of anger at the film's ending. I don't understand this at all. I felt that the downbeat ending perfectly encapsulated the ideas of the series as it went along. For there to have been three such individuals in Philadelphia means that there had to be others elsewhere and that points to the probability of what plays out in the final act of this movie. I was reminded of the early way Marvel handled the mutants in the first few years of the X-Men comic books in the 1960's. This film felt very much in keeping with the natural fears of humanity when confronted with something this scary.

ESCAPE ROOM (2019) is a very enjoyable thriller keying off a social/cultural phenomenon that I have absolutely no experience with or, really, any desire to experience. I like playing a game with friends just as much as the next person but I still don't get why I would want to join together with a group of complete strangers in an attempt to win a game in some public place. If you suggest sitting around a table and drinking while we play Monopoly or something and you can probably get me on board but not anything like this. But, clearly these types of game adventures have become a huge business, so.....

This is a pretty diverting film with a mostly likable cast. The story ramps up well and I found the characters interesting enough with each staying well within their stereotypical lanes. The female actors are generally better than the males which adds some unexpected texture to events as they progress. I was never bored by the film but, by the end. I felt as if I had seen this story before and done in a much more interesting way. This is quite similar to the 2016 film THE BELKO EXPERIMENT with an ending that is only one degree of separation from that earlier film's conclusion. While I find the idea behind this film's hideous actions (trying to not spoil things) scarier than those in THE BELKO EXPERIMENT it also seems less universal in it's final statement as well. I'd be curious to see what others think about the similarities between these two movies and the thread that could be followed on through to the PURGE films as well. 

THE LIST

ESCAPE FROM GALAXY 3 (1981) -2 (a.k.a. STARCRASH 2)

ESCAPE ROOM (2019) - 6

SPLIT (2016) - 8 (rewatch)

BOMBA, THE JUNGLE BOY (1949) - 5 (first of the series)

BEHIND THE HEADLINES (1937) - 5 (OK competitive reporter tale)

BLOODY NEW YEAR (1987) - 6 (silly but inventive British horror film)

THE CARPET OF HORROR (1962) - 7 (fun krimi)

WITCHTRAP (1989) - 4

ANNIHILATION (2018) - 9 (rewatch)

NINJA BUSTERS (1985) - 2 (amusingly awful)

GLASS (2019) - 8

HOUSE OF SECRETS (1936) - 5 (British set mystery)

KLONDIKE KATE (1943) - 5

CONQUEST OF COCHISE (1953) - 6

DON'T KILL IT (2016) - 4 (good idea let down by low budget)  

HAPPY DEATH DAY (2018) - 8 (rewatch)

SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (2012) - 7 (rewatch)

SHINING SEX (1977) - 7 (Jess Franco Sci-fi sex film)

THE REDEEMER: SON OF SATAN (1978) - 7 (much better than I expected)

ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL(2019) - 6

INVASION OF THE BLOOD FARMERS (1972) - 3 (rewatch)

ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK (1972) - 8 (rewatch)

POLAR (2019) - 7 (over-the-top NetFlix assassin film)

JACK THE RIPPER (1958) - 7 (rewatch)

MAD MAX FURY ROAD (2015) - 9 (rewatch)

TORNADO (1983) - 4 (a.k.a. THE LAST BLOOD)