What if a child from
another world crash-landed on Earth, but instead of becoming a hero to mankind,
he proved to be something far more sinister? With Brightburn, the visionary
filmmaker of Guardians of the Galaxy and Slither presents a startling,
subversive take on a radical new genre: superhero horror.
Director: David Yarovesky
Cast: Elizabeth Banks,
David Denman, Jackson A. Dunn, Matt Jones, Meredith Hagner
Release Date: May 24, 2019
Rated R for horror
violence/bloody images, and language.
Runtime: 1 hr. 31 min.
Genres: Horror, Sci-Fi
Review:
Brightburn feels like a
“what if” issue of a comic book series.
David Yarevesky plays up the Superman motif at multiple points during
his gory superhero/horror hybrid.
Jackson A. Dunn fills the creepy kid well with Elizabeth Banks and David
Denman doing strong work as his adoptive parents. The conceit is solid but even as the film
moves into darker territory you get the feeling that they don’t quite get the
most out of the idea. The film isn’t
really scary per say, just gory in parts, even though Yarovesky does set up
some genuinely tense sequences. Sadly,
there’s not a ton of surprise in store and most everything plays out exactly
like you think it would. The finale does
hint at the possibility of a sequel which could be interesting in its own right
depending how they decide to play the story.
As an origin story, it’s solid if slightly uninspired.
B
