I was super stoked to see Brightburn. The thought of seeing an evil Superman was enticing. Nobody can tell me they’ve never wondered what would happen if Superman didn’t turn out to be such a boy scout or beacon for truth, justice, and the American way. This movie definitely did not disappoint in this aspect.
Brightburn tells the story of a young married couple who find an alien baby who crash landed on their farm. The couple raises the baby as their own, but soon realize this might not have been the best idea. When the kid hits puberty, his inner extraterrestrial biological make-up kicks in, and turns into an evil little shit. Did that summary sound familiar? That’s because it’s the same origin story as Superman! Minus the evil. The story even takes place in a fictional town in Kansas. It’s all pretty much the same until the kid hits puberty and uses his newfound talents for self-gain.
Brightburn tells the story of a young married couple who find an alien baby who crash landed on their farm. The couple raises the baby as their own, but soon realize this might not have been the best idea. When the kid hits puberty, his inner extraterrestrial biological make-up kicks in, and turns into an evil little shit. Did that summary sound familiar? That’s because it’s the same origin story as Superman! Minus the evil. The story even takes place in a fictional town in Kansas. It’s all pretty much the same until the kid hits puberty and uses his newfound talents for self-gain.
This movie was pretty awesome. As I mentioned before, I was always curious to see what would happen if Superman broke bad and this is kind of what I was expecting. The story was very straight forward and simple. The filmmakers didn’t waste any time and got straight to the action. The viewer goes from 0—60mph pretty much immediately. I wish there was some more character building, especially when the alien angst comes into play, and really get to see the transition from good to bad. Aside from that developmental fault, the filmmakers did a solid job.
The cast portrayed their characters well. Elizabeth Banks does a good job with her role as the kid’s mother. She manages to display the maternal instinct any mother of a psycho killer displays— unconditional love no matter the severity of the situation. The evil kid himself, played by Jackson Dunn, was commendable in his role. He has that creepy kid look to him, and you can tell he was of questionable character by that look. You can always tell who the creepy kids are in horror, by that “look”.
The cast portrayed their characters well. Elizabeth Banks does a good job with her role as the kid’s mother. She manages to display the maternal instinct any mother of a psycho killer displays— unconditional love no matter the severity of the situation. The evil kid himself, played by Jackson Dunn, was commendable in his role. He has that creepy kid look to him, and you can tell he was of questionable character by that look. You can always tell who the creepy kids are in horror, by that “look”.
The highlight of the movie, besides the cool super powers, was the blood and gore. The filmmakers knew they would have to up their game in the violence department and they did not disappoint. There’s excellent usage of practical and CG effects in this film. They managed to seamlessly meld the two types and one can barely tell at times what’s practical and what’s computer generated. The movie did not shy away from the kills and how they were executed by our alien bad boy. There’s a scene where he drops a pickup truck from a high altitude which resulted in one of the gnarliest deaths in the film. There are other dope kills that I won’t spoil, but the flick is worth watching for this reason alone.
At the end of the day Brightburn managed to deliver. The pacing was a bit rushed for my taste, but the awesome kills make up for that. The actors did a fine job with their characters, and the filmmakers succeeded in giving us a horror movie with comic book vibes. //Arturo Padilla
At the end of the day Brightburn managed to deliver. The pacing was a bit rushed for my taste, but the awesome kills make up for that. The actors did a fine job with their characters, and the filmmakers succeeded in giving us a horror movie with comic book vibes. //Arturo Padilla
