It's safe to say that we have entered the generation of superheroes with MCU taking the reigns of detailing the immortal Marvel Universe. It is definitely not an easy task to break down the astonishing and still keep it astonishing till the end. The Netflix platform is one of the few which has offered the space for brilliantly gritty and dark shows like Daredevil, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. The deconstruction of the making of a superhero has been the centrepiece of these binge-worthy shows.
Which is why it is utterly fascinating yet somehow unsurprising to see M. Night Shyamalan present his version of things. Shyamalan's recent psychological horror 'Split' starring James McAvoy has been a major comeback since 'The Sixth Sense' and it seems like he is going to stick around and make some noise.
Split has an end credits scene featuring none other than David Dunn (Bruce Willis's character from Shyamalan's 2000 film 'Unbreakable') with an additional mention of Mr Glass (Samuel L Jackson's character), placing both films in continuity, the master plan to end with a third instalment from the director.
I had a feeling that since the world of superheroes are pushing boundaries, it maybe worthwhile to do a quick breakdown of his approach and why it is a gamechanger.
The Common Thread (Major Spoilers)
Shyamalan has played around with the idea of supernatural abilities in his early films like where Cole's line "I see dead people" still renders people spineless. According to Shyamalan, Kevin's story in Split and David's story in Unbreakable were supposed to be parallelly put in the script but it turned out to be 'too electric'. David's life is turned upside down after the train incident when Elijah, (Glass Man) pursues him to find about his abilities, thus giving purpose to David. Elijah suffers from a rare bone disease rendering him fragile and prone to accidents. Turns out, his intention of finding someone who falls on the other end of the physical spectrum, someone who is the strongest and unbreakable revealed to him his place as a supervillain as opposed to David, who knew now he was a superhero.
Split follows the story of Casey, an anomaly in Kevin's plan to kidnap two teenage girls. Casey, a loner teenager is the protagonist projected by the script. Split is as much a story of Casey's journey to come to terms with her demons as much as guiding and understanding the demon that makes Kevin who he is. The Beast, the final personality, is humanised in the moment when he lets go of Casey and proclaims like a God, "The broken are the more evolved."
Question is, is Kevin the new supervillain all set to finally meet David, the superhero, or if we are to follow Shyamalan's pattern in character development, is it the other way round?
Nevertheless, we can be clear on one thing. Kevin's connection to the train accident we saw in Unbreakable is well grounded. That incident was the ground zero, as it is in the railway tracks that the Beast makes an appearance. Painful experiences make imminent threats to survival and fear is good motivator. Kevin's 24 personalities depend on the Beast for their protection, and based on the cult like leadership Dennis and Patricia have taken up, we can easily assume an all out battle within Kevin's psyche when his paths coincide with David in the final movie of the trilogy. So it would be mindful to keep your day open if you want to see a whole new genre of superhero films like no other.
Which is why it is utterly fascinating yet somehow unsurprising to see M. Night Shyamalan present his version of things. Shyamalan's recent psychological horror 'Split' starring James McAvoy has been a major comeback since 'The Sixth Sense' and it seems like he is going to stick around and make some noise.
Split has an end credits scene featuring none other than David Dunn (Bruce Willis's character from Shyamalan's 2000 film 'Unbreakable') with an additional mention of Mr Glass (Samuel L Jackson's character), placing both films in continuity, the master plan to end with a third instalment from the director.
I had a feeling that since the world of superheroes are pushing boundaries, it maybe worthwhile to do a quick breakdown of his approach and why it is a gamechanger.
The Common Thread (Major Spoilers)
Shyamalan has played around with the idea of supernatural abilities in his early films like where Cole's line "I see dead people" still renders people spineless. According to Shyamalan, Kevin's story in Split and David's story in Unbreakable were supposed to be parallelly put in the script but it turned out to be 'too electric'. David's life is turned upside down after the train incident when Elijah, (Glass Man) pursues him to find about his abilities, thus giving purpose to David. Elijah suffers from a rare bone disease rendering him fragile and prone to accidents. Turns out, his intention of finding someone who falls on the other end of the physical spectrum, someone who is the strongest and unbreakable revealed to him his place as a supervillain as opposed to David, who knew now he was a superhero.
Split follows the story of Casey, an anomaly in Kevin's plan to kidnap two teenage girls. Casey, a loner teenager is the protagonist projected by the script. Split is as much a story of Casey's journey to come to terms with her demons as much as guiding and understanding the demon that makes Kevin who he is. The Beast, the final personality, is humanised in the moment when he lets go of Casey and proclaims like a God, "The broken are the more evolved."
Question is, is Kevin the new supervillain all set to finally meet David, the superhero, or if we are to follow Shyamalan's pattern in character development, is it the other way round?
Nevertheless, we can be clear on one thing. Kevin's connection to the train accident we saw in Unbreakable is well grounded. That incident was the ground zero, as it is in the railway tracks that the Beast makes an appearance. Painful experiences make imminent threats to survival and fear is good motivator. Kevin's 24 personalities depend on the Beast for their protection, and based on the cult like leadership Dennis and Patricia have taken up, we can easily assume an all out battle within Kevin's psyche when his paths coincide with David in the final movie of the trilogy. So it would be mindful to keep your day open if you want to see a whole new genre of superhero films like no other.
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