Brightburn | Film Review

Hey Guys x

I think I only saw the trailer for this once when I was at the cinema, but apart from what I never saw it or heard of it. However, the premise was interesting enough that I kind of wanted to see how it turned out.

After struggling to conceive, Tori (Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle Breyer (David Denman) are gifted with a baby boy. But as Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn) grows up and begins to exhibit strange behaviours and scary thoughts, everyone around Brandon finds themselves in danger. But who really is Brandon Breyer? And just how scared should the people around him be?

I went into this film expecting it to be really bad (because that's what I'd been told), so I was actually pleasantly surprised by it. Not that I really liked it, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

It starts off how you imagine Clark Kent's early life was. Some of the similarities are so obvious that they definitely can't be a coincidence. It feels like a Smallville prequel.

However, because of these similarities, a twist in the movie is spoiled because of the child's similarities to Clark Kent from the beginning.

The further you get into the film, the more it feels like a lot has happened, but also nothing has really happened at the same time. You've learned a lot about this family, but no one has actually done anything, and for a lot of time, the plot isn't moving forward.

Like many frustrating movies, many major events could have been avoided if the parents had done the realistic thing and not illegally adopted a baby that they found in the woods...

The movie also left me with a lot more questions than answers. For example, when did Brandon get his powers? The film sets it up like they came at the age of 12. But there's also some dialogue that suggests that he had always had them in some shape or form, which kind of changes the film because it makes you wonder what the parents were thinking.

And with that comes questions about Brandon himself. Why does he target people close to him? Why did this start at the age of 12? How long have his parents (particularly his mother) been ignoring this? If he's never bled, why does a certain character believe that a bullet will kill him? While I like the idea of films being ambiguous and not answering every little question, if they made a sequel of the movie (which I think there are plans for) I'd like more questions about Brandon answered.

To be honest, the most realistic thing about this film is Brandon having superpowers in the first place, which tells you how unrealistic the whole movie is. And this includes a lot of the dialogue, and to be honest most of the characters in and of themselves.

And finally, it had a really weird ending. Not good or satisfying or bad or disappointing, just... Weird.

Having said all of this, there was great acting throughout the film, particularly by Elizabeth Banks (who is amazing in everything she does), David Denman, and of course Jackson A. Dunn who carried the film amazingly well.

In addition, as someone who is a huge fan of the plethora of comic movies we get, this was an interesting take on the genre.

Overall, while I didn't love the film, it's definitely worth a watch because it does do some interesting things, and it's an original take on a superhero movie.

6/10

Lou