Had a few days off in Singapore, so I went to the movies. Plenty of talk already about Endgame, so I'll do Brightburn.
What if Superman wasn't the good guy? That's pretty much the concept behind Brightburn, a horror film set in a familiar farm house setting, but with a very different outcome from the Smallville stories we've heard in the past.
Tori and Kyle Beyer (Elizabeth Banks and David Denman) are a young midwest farming couple trying to conceive a child, but having trouble, when one day, a gift is sent to them, seemingly from the heavens. The find a baby boy in the wreckage of some sort of alien spacecraft, and adopt him, raising him as their own. They name him Brandon, and he grows up pretty much like any other all-American kid. One day when he's just about 12, things start to change. Brandon is drawn to the strange object locked in his father's barn, and he starts to discover he has certain,...abilities. The world is about to find out who Brandon is, and what it means if you stand in his way.
Brightburn is pretty well made, and it's an interesting take on the "superhero gone bad" concept, since it makes that change early in the supposed hero's life instead of through some evil plot hatched by a super villain. Although this isn't Clark Kent, or Smallville, or Superman, it's very clearly all those things, just in a universe where they went a little differently. Brandon doesn't learn to harness his powers under the patient and principled tutelage of his Ma and Pa; instead, he is changed by the discovery of his powers, essentially losing all sense of morality or empathy with humanity,...he's essentially a psychopath.
The acting is decent and the script is fine, although it advances very rapidly. There's virtually no pause between Brandon accessing his powers and complete loss of his humanity. It would have been nice to see the process develop more incrementally, but I suppose you have to keep things moving for a movie audience. The effects are decent, although maybe unnecessarily gruesome in one or two scenes. This is not a "superhero genre" movie. It's definitely a suspense/horror film, with plenty of moments designed to make you jump in your seat. There's not really any question about who the villain is, or really much doubt about how there story will turn out, but otherwise, it's a decent scare flick.
Brightburn is rated R, and deserves it for some of the gore and violence it puts on full display. There's a bit of cursing as well, but not really any sex. Not a family movie, but if you're interested in superhero concepts, or horror films, or want to see a different take on the Superman concept, you might enjoy this movie.
Slowguy
(insert pithy phrase here...)
What if Superman wasn't the good guy? That's pretty much the concept behind Brightburn, a horror film set in a familiar farm house setting, but with a very different outcome from the Smallville stories we've heard in the past.
Tori and Kyle Beyer (Elizabeth Banks and David Denman) are a young midwest farming couple trying to conceive a child, but having trouble, when one day, a gift is sent to them, seemingly from the heavens. The find a baby boy in the wreckage of some sort of alien spacecraft, and adopt him, raising him as their own. They name him Brandon, and he grows up pretty much like any other all-American kid. One day when he's just about 12, things start to change. Brandon is drawn to the strange object locked in his father's barn, and he starts to discover he has certain,...abilities. The world is about to find out who Brandon is, and what it means if you stand in his way.
Brightburn is pretty well made, and it's an interesting take on the "superhero gone bad" concept, since it makes that change early in the supposed hero's life instead of through some evil plot hatched by a super villain. Although this isn't Clark Kent, or Smallville, or Superman, it's very clearly all those things, just in a universe where they went a little differently. Brandon doesn't learn to harness his powers under the patient and principled tutelage of his Ma and Pa; instead, he is changed by the discovery of his powers, essentially losing all sense of morality or empathy with humanity,...he's essentially a psychopath.
The acting is decent and the script is fine, although it advances very rapidly. There's virtually no pause between Brandon accessing his powers and complete loss of his humanity. It would have been nice to see the process develop more incrementally, but I suppose you have to keep things moving for a movie audience. The effects are decent, although maybe unnecessarily gruesome in one or two scenes. This is not a "superhero genre" movie. It's definitely a suspense/horror film, with plenty of moments designed to make you jump in your seat. There's not really any question about who the villain is, or really much doubt about how there story will turn out, but otherwise, it's a decent scare flick.
Brightburn is rated R, and deserves it for some of the gore and violence it puts on full display. There's a bit of cursing as well, but not really any sex. Not a family movie, but if you're interested in superhero concepts, or horror films, or want to see a different take on the Superman concept, you might enjoy this movie.
Slowguy
(insert pithy phrase here...)