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| Courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing |
By Daniel Andrade
With the summer movie season fast approaching, it’s become almost inevitable at this point to expect to see a blockbuster superhero movie on the big screen. Since Marvel began their ambitious cinematic universe 11 years ago, we’ve gotten accustomed to seeing some of our favorite heroes come to life with epic fight scenes, fun interactions with some charismatic characters, and a happy ending to make us feel better as we walk out the theater. But maybe that’s the problem: these movies have become too predictable. Don’t get me wrong, I will still go and see all of them and have a great time doing so, but I will generally know exactly what I’m getting myself into.
But then along comes Brightburn. This movie takes those beats that you’ve come to expect in any other traditional superhero movie and flips them on their heads. You’re not watching the origins of a new hero, here to save the world and fight for the good of humanity. You’re seeing the birth of a supervillain, and it is truly horrifying to watch unravel.
Brightburn tells the story of a couple (Tori and Kyle Brenner, played by Elizabeth Banks and David Denman, respectively) who, after years of not being able to have kids on their own, come across a miracle: a baby boy falls from the sky, crash landing in their farm (nothing suspicious about that right?). Of course, they see this as a blessing, and raise him as their own, teaching him the values of hard work and the importance of family. But as Brandon (played creepily by Jackson Dunn) gets older, he starts to realize his true power and potential. And this is where things begin to spiral out of control. It’s hard enough being a moody and angsty teen without powers, but when you throw those into the mix, along with a frightening connection to his alien ship trying to awaken his inner evil, you get a whole new host of problems.
This movie serves as a fascinating character study that is gripping on its own, but when you add the horror elements, it elevates it to a new level. There have been so few movies that focus on the development of a villain, and this one does an excellent job. We see that he is not necessarily completely and totally evil, at least not at first. Besides a few moments where he is definitely acting like a creep, he is pushed to these extremes after trying to reason with people, albeit oftentimes in a threatening manner. There are even some heartbreaking moments where you almost feel sorry for Brandon, which is an impressive feat to pull off considering all the horrific things you see him do throughout the course of the movie.
The super-powered action scenes in this movie blend so well with the horror elements that I’m surprised something like this hasn’t been attempted sooner (with the exception of possibly Chronicle, another excellent superhero movie that twists up the genre). As a horror movie and superhero movie fan, it was an odd sensation to mix all of the things I expected from both genres. Jump scares become a whole not more effective when superspeed or flight is added to it. Moments that would otherwise be beautiful and inspiring, like Superman hovering over his home or flying off into the sky with Lois Lane, now are terrifying and ominous moments, where you’re anxiously waiting for Brandon to strike. The effects are both impressive and disturbing, and in particular, those red eyes are haunting. The mask itself is reminiscent of the Scarecrow from the Batman movies, which works on multiple levels; he grew up on a farm so was probably familiar with scarecrows growing up, and he is literally the stuff of nightmares.
Additionally, this is an interesting take on the coming-of-age film as well. These parents are trying their best to raise their adopted child right, but they’re also hiding his past from him as well. This is certainly a common issue with adopted children, trying to figure out who they really are, but when you add supernatural elements to the story it becomes much more complicated. It really makes you think about what you would do in the position of these parents. You’re not just dealing with a temperamental teenager, you’re dealing with an unstable force of destructive potential. Seeing the parents trying to cope with that information was compelling, though admittedly the father in this movie didn’t always seem to be involved in this. Perhaps that was their take on midwestern families, or maybe that was intentionally done to show how lacking a strong and supportive father figure in his life contributed to Brandon’s behavior.
One of the few complaints I have about the movie is that we don’t get enough time to see Brandon discover his powers. We get one scene where we see his strength and invulnerability, but beyond that, the rest of his powers just suddenly appear when we see him use them for the first time. It would have been interesting to see him gradually learn and develop his powers, even if only for one or two more scenes, just to see how he would react to this discovery. I know we’ve seen that montage before in many superhero movies, but we’ve never seen it with a villain. I would have loved to have seen how writers Brian and Mark Gunn envisioned this panning out, instead of just jumping straight to the madness. What can I say, I just enjoyed this movie so much that I wanted a little more of it!
CONCLUSION: Brightburn takes the superhero formula we’ve all come to know and love and completely subverts it into an unnerving descent into villainy. It’s genuinely scary, and thought-provoking as well. It’s an original and refreshing take on a formula that may be oversaturated at this point, and will be a delight for both superhero and horror movie fans.
FINAL SCORE: 4 / 5
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