Brightburn (film): They tried, but it's just not very good **MILD SPOILERS**

in #movies5 years ago

Brightburn is a recent sci-fi / horror / thriller movie that appeared to be something i would enjoy. While I appreciate the anti-hero aspects of it, a lot of it doesn't make much sense and things became woefully predictable after a while. Even though I don't think this film is great, it isn't terrible either, and I may give away some plot stuff below. Therefore....

SPOILER ALERT - SPOILER ALERT - SPOILER ALERT



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With an interesting story, a reasonably big budget, and some mid-card names such as Elizabeth Banks, this movie looked like it had some real potential. Unfortunately, it becomes kind of an eye-rolling experience after a while since so many of the surprise moments are predicated on really dumb situations such as "oh i thought my son that I am absurdly watchful over was in his room? You mean he isn't in there?" (actual situation that happens not once, but twice in this movie.)

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The film starts out actually very well, as we are introduced to a wholesome family who lives a peaceful life in rural Kansas. The family seems normal enough, but the son (who is clearly the focus of the film - even early on) is a little bit socially awkward but also seems to be very gifted as a student.

We are taught with a few early instances in the film that there is a reason he is so smart, and his advantages are not limited to his intellect. We are shown that he has super strength when he severely injures another student. For me, this would be the end of the film.... but everyone just carries on as if it is not completely physically impossible for a 12 year old normal-sized kid to obliterate the bones in another student's hand using nothing more than a handshake. It's just dumb that they kind of treat this like a "boys will be boys" situation and no additional action is taken.


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This film basically is the story of the TV show Smallville (which I liked) but done in a completely dark fashion. Also, a lot of it seems very rushed. The fact that Brandon (the young boy with the power) totally changed his entire attitude overnight is completely impractical, even for a super hero goaded by bullies and puberty: One minute he is a good boy that listens to his parents, respects his teachers, and tries hard to be respectful..... the next he doesn't give AF and basically wrecks anyone who gets in his way, including his own family who just 10 minutes ago he was treating with love and respect.

So overall, i was a bit disappointed with this film but can still applaud the fact that there is a superhero movie giving backstory to a villain although it does seem extremely rushed and at times, kind of dumb. If there is a tie-in to other superheros in some sort of trilogy, I can say that this was done well enough that I would be interested in seeing them.

I also don't much care for child actors and am very critical of them kind of across the board. I admit that his is a massive factor for me. Brightburn ends up being an incredibly predictable ride with a few shock moments that relied on gore and tension for effect rather than actually having good writing and direction. For the most part it ended up being quite average due to the rather impractical nature of the storytelling. While i realize that being a superhero at all is in itself impractical, the fact that Brandon was raised right doesn't meld well with the immediate "not giving a crap about authority or the love that exists in his family life" about-face that occurs far too quickly in this movie.

I think it takes the right kind of person to enjoy this film, and for me anyway, it missed the mark but just a tiny amount. It is still worth watching, but certainly not fantastic.

On a scale of "Urgh!" to "Wowsers!" I give Brightburn the overall rating of.....


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I think if this movie would have either been a mini series or had at least another hour of runtime it would have been much, much better. The main problem I had with this film is the kid just becomes evil basically instantly, which seems ridiculous. His MO doesn't really make much sense with some of the shit he pulls, and I just found some of it to be laughable.

Honestly, after watching Homelander in The Boys, the rewatchability of this film has dropped massively. Definitely not the biggest prolapsed anus of a film I've seen or anything, but it dropped the ball right onto a meth addicts skin bugs.

you summed it up perfectly. You don't go from shy, reserved, parent-fearing, respectful nerd-boy to evil-destructo-kill-your-parents-because-they-looked-at-you-funny murderer boy in 3 and half minutes.

Maybe it was the chat that his dad gave him in the woods about how it is perfectly normal to want to bang chicks. That would have sent me over the edge but just due to the cringe.

I was pretty impressed when I first saw the previews for this film. Then I saw it again and again and again on one of my social media feeds and eventually I was pretty much over it and I had decided that I was just going to skip it. If nothing else, I will read the plot synopsis online or something like that :)

Only good for the first watch, after that it’s awful. Something about movies where the villains win always leave a mark tho 😏

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OK. I would not see. What is the point of watching a predictable movie?

It must have been a trilogy to give him time to turn bad!

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