Brightburn (2019)
Written By: FR
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: David Yarovesky
Writers: Brian Gunn, Mark Gunn
Producers: James Gunn, Kenneth Huang
Date Released: May 24, 2019
Cast:
Elizabeth Banks as Tori Breyer
David Denman as Kyle Breyer
Jackson A. Dunn as Brandon Breyer
Abraham Clinkscales as Royce
Christian Finlayson as Fauxhawk
Jennifer Holland as Ms. Espenschied
Emmie Hunter as Caitlyn
Matt Jones as Noah McNichol
Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackso
Rating = 2/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Brightburn (2019) follows the story of couple, Tori and Kyle who have always wanted a child of their own. One night, during a storm something falls from the sky into the cornfield that a couple lives in. Upon exploring the crash, they discover a baby. When they find the baby at the crash, they adopt the baby and name it Brandon. Brandon grows up to be a normal boy but as he grows older, his behavior changes to a sinister person when he discovers he has powers. As a result, he endangers everyone around him.
Gore Factor
The film contain some gory scenes but there are only select scenes which may be disturbing. However, there are some scenes which are note worthy. For example, in one scene, a piece of glass gets blown into a woman’s eye. While she pulls out the glass from her eye, the eye gushes and the camera focuses on it. In another scene, a vehicle is thrown up in the air with a man inside. As the vehicle lands, the man’s jaw is torn off as his face is smashed onto the wheel. As a result, the man attempts to hold his gory face with his jaw gushing open.
The Grave Review
Brightburn (2019) simply put is the story of Superman if he had a sinister side. Rather than tell the story of someone who uses his power for good, the baby eventually uses his powers for evil. The premise is a fun twist on the superman story, but unfortunately the execution of the plot was not well-done.
There are some aspects of the film which made little sense. For example, when the crash in the beginning occurs, no one seems to notice this big and loud event. In addition, when the couple adopts the baby, they never try to find out where the baby came from or discuss with each other the occurrence at all. These simple additional scenes may have made the film flow better and provide more clarification.
The film also did not incorporate any progressive transformation from when Brandon discovers he has powers to when he becomes evil. The transformation that Brandon undergoes turning into a villain seemed to happen overnight without any motive or provocation. There are no scenes that clarify the sudden change and mannerism change. In other words, Brandon transitions from a normal boy to a very bad super kid. Another strange point is the fact that Brandon wears this bizarre shirt and mask but allows people to the mask off him which defeats the purpose of providing mystery as we have seen in the DC comics.
Overall, the performance was well-done. However, the story was undeveloped and created more questions than answers. In addition, as stated above, there were very few transitional scenes would prevented the plot of the film was flowing smoothly.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Brightburn (2019) two and half graves out of five graves.
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