Brightburn (2019) [Blu-ray]
Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline: Evil Has Found Its Superhero.

In this new film genre -- superhero horror -- an extraterrestrial child crash-lands on Earth and begins to display special powers as he grows older. But his adoptive mother's joy turns into terror when his evil nature emerges.

Storyline: What if a child from another world crash-landed on Earth, but instead of becoming a hero to mankind, he proved to be something far more sinister?

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, August 12, 2019 Brightburn tells the story of a 12-year-old super villain named Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn), an alien boy whose space ship crash landed in Kansas and who was adopted by loving parents but who listens to a calling to use his powers for evil rather than good. One of the film's most interesting shots shows one of Brandon's first victims, a classmate whose hand he crushed with his superhuman strength, writing an essay entitled "The Decline of Truth and Justice in the Modern Era." It's the story's anti-Superman sentiment put as succinctly as possible. Director David Yarovesky (The Hive) and Writers James Gunn and Kenneth Huang have taken a rock-solid anti-genre, anti-hero concept and done little of interest with it. The movie is a madhouse of blood, sound, and special effects but feels rather empty, too introductory and lacking a hook beyond establishing the character in unimaginative, trope-laden ways.

An infertile couple finds a crash-landed alien baby outside their Kansas farm home. Kyle and Tori Breyer (David Denman and Elizabeth Banks, respectively) raise the boy as their own. About a dozen years have passed since the event. They have named him Brandon. He is highly intelligent and something of a social outcast. He is also imbued with superpowers. One day he flings an old lawnmower hundreds of yards, frustrated when it fails to start. He quickly discovers he's both all-powerful and immune to physical harm. A dark inner voice, its source his own ship hidden in the family's barn, calls upon him to use his powers for evil. As he begins to change, to realize who he is and what he can do, his behavior shifts: he's growing more unpredictable and more antagonistic towards his parents and everyone in the community. They believe he's hitting puberty, but it's the dark, malicious voice that is proving too strong for him to overcome. As strange events and grisly murders unfold in his hometown of Brightburn, it becomes increasingly clear that Brandon is in the center of the violent maelstrom engulfing the town.

Whatever conflict exists in the movie exists from within, at least for a while, as Brandon discovers who he is and matures into his powers. There's little feel for any internal wrestling between good and evil, no rationalization or really even a hint of using his powers for anything other than violent mischief. For Brandon the satanic voice telling him to "take the world" (which comes complete with a selection of blood-red hellish lights) is never just a temptation: it's a calling. And the boy quickly comes to realize that there's no room for love and normalcy in his life, taking up the mantle of a violently bent trickster who toys with people because he can, because he must. The story is localized, too. Brandon never leaves Brightburn, his Kansas hometown. And his victims don't range too far from home, either. The film also introduces no real foil for Brandon. The conflict is between love and hate, but never within him. There's never any question as to which side will win. Tensions are low even as bloodshed is high, and the movie just never does manage to find any real hook, sense of scope, or feel for conflict.

The gruesome special effects will delight gore hounds. Wounds range from glass in an eye to a jaw severed from the skull, from laser eyes holing through a head to a smashed hand and broken wrist. Blood is everywhere and the production design team gets the most of every drop and every bit of destructive carnage Brandon leaves in his wake. But even the superior technical details cannot hide the monotonous, one-note story or cover for the lack of character depth. The actors do little with the material, either. Jackson A. Dunn delivers a properly devious turn as the powerful villain who cues up the opportunity to burn his bridges and burn down his life and, eventually, the world around him. The deviousness is in full effect even under the makeshift costume (which just sort of appears) and supported by some seamless visual effects (flying, laser eyes), but the actors cannot overcome a script which is no more than the proverbial one-trick pony.

Brightburn feels like an incomplete movie. There is essentially no third act, at least not within a more traditionally structured story. The film introduces the character and sees him grow into his powers while cutting ties with everything that once loved and could love him, but it leaves it at that. There's no challenge, no conflict, no opposition on his plane. Perhaps the opposition is emotion, but there's also no pull between right and wrong, and the family ties are not strong enough to even tempt Brandon to step away from mayhem. The picture is passably entertaining, at least, and it's technically sound, but it needs more. Sony's Blu-ray does deliver top-end video and audio presentations, supported by a handful of extras. Rent it.

(Based on Comic Book)

[CSW] -2.3- Well, that was disappointing. It seemed like a pretty clever idea: flip Superman's origin story on its head, and have him basically turn out to be evil. Instead, you have what amounts to a slasher flick. Lots of unnecessary gore. I wish filmmakers would understand the concept that scaring the audience and grossing them out are two entirely different things. Often filmmakers seem to be confused, and think the latter is the same as the former. It's too bad, because this was a great premise. Although it was pretty good for the cursed children genre and it had good casting and above average character development, the slasher aspect overwhelmed the horror parts. The sci-fi wasn't even hinted at except for the tiny spaceship.
[V4.5-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box did enhance this movie.


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