Slow Burner

Brightburn, KS

I saw Brightburn a couple of weekends ago. It has a very small cast, a very simple plot, and does a decent job of telling its story. The basic premise of the film is that young Brandon Breyer has been the perfect child for his parents, Tori and Kyle, but after hitting twelve years of age, things change….a lot.

Brandon begins to develop powers very similar to a superhero that we all know and love. That hero is Superman. Just like Superman, Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn) fell to our planet in a spaceship as an infant. The Breyers, desperate for a child of their own but apparently unable to conceive, take in Brandon as their own. Kyle (David Denman) hides the spaceship in the family barn and he and his wife raise Brandon in a normal, human home. Brandon learns that he has super strength, super speed, heat vision, the ability to fly, possibly super hearing, and he only has one weakness that will remain nameless.

Unlike Superman, Brandon is compelled to use his powers for evil. He wants to control everything and everyone. There is a reason for all of this that I won’t go into, but it possibly sets up a potential sequel if it is decided that one will be made. Brandon terrorizes the locals and people start to die and/or go missing but Tori (Elizabeth Banks) refuses to believe that her son is the culprit in all of the chaos.

Despite not wanting to believe it, Kyle realizes that Brandon truly is a disturbed individual. As he slowly uncovers the magnitude of Brandon’s powers, he decides that something has to be done. Does Kyle stop Brandon? Does Tori realize that her son is pure evil? Does a Lex Luthor type show up to save the day? You’ll have to watch Brightburn to find out.

The film is pretty enjoyable. There are plenty of things about it that could have been done differently or perhaps better, but it was a satisfying film to watch. The ending leaves things wide open for a sequel and I do hope that one is made as I believe that this film set the table for better things in the future.

The cast did a fine job. Not one person in the bunch gave a bad performance. Dunn was solid as Brandon as he slowly spiraled into an evil abyss, and Banks was very convincing as a mother who believes that her son isn’t capable of doing bad things. Denman was solid as an awkward father learning as he goes with a son going through some major changes. Other members of the cast included Matt Jones and Meredith Hagner as Brandon’s uncle and aunt, Becky Wahlstrom as Erica, the mother of Caitlyn (Emmie Hunter), a young girl that Brandon is attracted to, and Gregory Alan Williams as the local sheriff trying to solve the murders and mysteries in his town.

My only complaint with this film is one of the same complaints that I have with Superman flicks: Brandon is too overpowered and lacks a real adversary in the movie. That’s why I’m hoping that a real challenge shows up in a sequel. Other than that, the movie was pretty good. It moved slowly, featured a decent amount of scares (most of the jump variety), and even a bit of suspense. It had some pretty harsh moments that earned its R rating, but cleaning up a bit of the gore and language, this film could have passed for a PG-13 flick. It was written by Brian and Mark Gunn and produced by James Gunn.

To be completely honest, I would only go check this out in theaters if you wanted to see it based on the trailers. I don’t believe that your average moviegoer (especially those that cut their teeth on the PG-13 fare of Marvel) will be interested in this film, as it focuses on horror more than action, and DC fans might be turned off by the fact that it’s simply Superman’s story with an evil twist. Horror fans may not care for the supervillain angle, but this movie is definitely more in their wheelhouse than in comic fan’s.

As always, thanks for reading. I plan on reviewing Godzilla: King of the Monsters in a few days. I saw it over the weekend and really enjoyed it.