Brightburn – 4 out of 5
I’m an obsessive superhero guy. You can tell by my glowing reviews of the MCU films and if you’ve seen my house you would see comic books in every room and various Marvel and DC paraphernalia everywhere. In the world of comics, superheroes entering genres they aren’t specifically known for isn’t unusual but in the world of cinema it is. I will grant that the superhero story has skirted the edges of the horror genre in the past but Brightburn promised a true comic book style feature that is all about the scary stuff. And it was very successful at it…
 |
| Usually heroes wear masks to protect their identity and protect their loved ones. This bad guy is wearing a mask to secure his identity so he can continue to eff things up. |
In the small town of Brightburn, Kyle (David Denman) and Tori Breyer (Elizabeth Banks) discover a crashed spaceship containing a baby boy. The two hide the spaceship in their barn and take the boy in to raise as their own and decide to keep his origin into their lives secret. Years pass and the boy, named Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn), starts to discover that he’s more than human and begins to hear cryptic voices in his head. As he learns more of his powers and the voices get louder, Brandon starts to become scary and violent and his father Kyle becomes increasingly worried. However, nothing can prepare them or the world as Brendan soon learns his past and comes to understand that he was sent to take the planet and there isn’t a single person that can stand in his way.
 |
| "We're a happy family. What could possibly go wrong with adopting an alien child that crash landed here on a spaceship?" |
Essentially, Brightburn is Superman’s origin story but ponders the question of “What if he went bad?” It’s a simple and obvious question but one primed for a great story because Superman is, when you think about it from a realistic point-of-view, a frightening figure. He’s incredibly fast, insanely strong, can shoot laser beams from his eyes (that also can see through walls) and can freeze you with his breath. Add in his inhuman senses and this being can find you in a matter of seconds from anywhere in the world and end your life in less time. It’s only for the sake of the character’s upbringing that he became this beacon of what it means to be a good person and the undeniable hero. Taking that formula and tweaking it so it is essentially doing the opposite is what makes Brightburn interesting and extremely unsettling. Granted, Brandon still has great adopted parents and is basically a walking evil sleeper agent awaiting to be activated so having abusive parents to complete subvert Supes' origin might have been a touch too dark--which is saying something because this movie gets super dark!
 |
| Sticking my hand into a running lawn mower blade probably wouldn't be myfirst decision when checking the potential of being invulnerable. |
 |
| The end credits has a fun cameo from Michael Rooker. If you don't love Michael Rooker, what horrible thing happened to you that keeps you from loving awesome things? |
Brightburn has a cool concept behind it but it won’t make for a good horror film if it doesn’t have atmosphere and chills to it. While this feature isn’t something that is outright terrifying it still succeeds in being incredibly creepy. The unpredictable nature of Brandon as he was raised to believe he was human but is starting to learn he is alien and starting to discover his abilities gets super tense and there are plenty of scenes that are very unsettling. These little moments are very satisfying from a scary perspective but this film does the violent terror and gore moments incredibly well. The violent acts Brandon commits are scary all by themselves and when they are combine with intense gore that comes from him harming squishy and delicate humans it makes for a horror film that can make your skin crawl. I won’t lie, there was a scene that involved trauma to an eye that made me do the whole “I don’t want to watch but I can’t turn away” thing…and I literally yelled out in sympathy pain.
 |
| I won't show you the eye trauma. Instead, enjoy a creepy screenshot of Brandon. |
 |
| Right now she's thinking about why she couldn't have had found a baby alien from the movie Signs. If they go bad you just gotta use a watergun to stop them. |
One element that really makes this film effective is the performance of Jackson A. Dunn. He is so great at not only developing the character from an innocent child to a murderous super-powered alien but he’s amazingly convincing as an individual who is complete uncertain and even a little terrified of what is happening to him. Then add in how scary he can be and it really made for a terrific performance. The rest of the cast are all doing a fantastic job of being a part of the horror. Whether it is those who are sure Brandon is a threat or, in the case of Elizabeth Banks, believes there is still good in him, they all do their parts excellently and help make Brandon’s story very rich but also feel like it belongs both in the world of horror and superheroes.
 |
| The moment you realize that you could have avoided this dangerous situation if you only treated Pam better. |
Brightburn definitely has the scare factor, the wow factor and the entertainment factor. It takes a great concept and really makes it work and made you feel unsettled, scared and grossed out. The performances in it are fantastic and it has an ending that does a great job of playing off of expectations. Overall, I really dug this film!
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar