Brightburn Review: Meh Of Steel
- naterichard98
- Jun 12, 2019
- 2 min read
DIRECTED BY: DAVID YAROVESKY STARRING: ELIZABETH BANKS, DAVID DENMAN, & JACKSON A. DUNN
RATED R FOR HORROR VIOLENCE/BLOODY IMAGES, AND LANGUAGE
LENGTH: 90 MINUTES
There have been countless comic story-lines about what if DC comic's marquee character Superman were to turn evil. It's a neat concept upon first glance, though it makes for quite the grim story. Producer James Gunn, his brother Brian Gunn, their cousin Mark Gunn, and director David Yarovesky decided to tap into this neat concept with the new superhero horror flick Brightburn.
Where Brightburn really shines is with it's central performances from Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, and newcomer Jackson A. Dunn. Dunn in particular delivers a bone-chilling performance as the supervillain-to-be Brandon Breyer. There's also several scenes that are incredibly intense and engaging and the diner scene (despite being completely spoiled by the marketing) is increasingly uncomfortable to watch. The film isn't particularly boring either, mostly due to how well the film is shot.
Where the film really misses the mark is with its execution of the core concept. There's a lot you could do with the concept of an evil-Superman, but unfortunately the execution here is excruciatingly generic and familiar. The film ditches it's more comic-bookish aspects and decides to turn into one of the blandest slasher films in recent memory. It's easy to see where the film is going and what turns it's going to take. The film also struggles with setting a scope. While the movie is mostly trying to be self-contained and small, there are moments with dodgy CGI-effects that feel as if they wanted to go bigger.
The script isn't doing the film any favors either, with its on-the-nose dialogue and some very awkward lines thrown in it ultimately makes the film feel hollow. It's one thing to leave things up-in-the-air and ambiguous, but it's completely different to basically have the entire plot of the film built on questions that are never answered. The only possible motive the movie throws at us for Brandon's turn to villainy is....puberty.
There are certainly somethings to admire about Brightburn that save the movie from being bad, but there are still plenty of aspects that prevent the film from being good. What the film ends up being is a middle of the road superhero slasher film that brings nothing new nor creative to the screen.
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