A review by Brooks Rich
When I did my most anticipated films of 2019, this was my number one film on that list. I was so excited to see this film. I thought this was going to be my favorite film of the year. Sadly it did not live up to those expectations. There's a lot I like in Brightburn but together as a film it leaves much to be desired.
Brandon Breyer is that quiet kid who no one likes. When he turns twelve his birthday party is his parents and aunt and uncle. A trope we've seen before but it gets the idea across. We sometimes have tropes for a reason. But there's something off about Brandon. He never has been hurt. He's smarter by a wide margin than every other kid. There's also something calling to him in the basement of his parents barn. I guess that's what you would call it. A basement? Sure. Puberty is not kind to this kid and soon he regards those around him to be weak. The trailers spell it out. Evil Superman.
There's a saying that less is more. Brightburn sadly does not benefit from that saying. It needed more. Brandon switches gears too quickly. He's almost too childish at the start of the movie. His relationship with his parents seems too strong for him to turn on a dime as quick as he does in the movie. We needed more of him resisting these sinister urges or something. Also some of the character work seems rushed. There's a waitress character that becomes antagonistic to him later on in the film but from her introduction she seems to be disgusted by him. Give her a reason to be wary of him and not just come across as some insane woman who hates a twelve-year-old. The short run time is the main detriment to this film. This film and story needed another twenty to thirty minutes in the middle.
I am wholly impressed by the fact this film looks as good as it does in a budget of only six million dollars. That's insane and bravo to the filmmakers. The gore, oh theres gore in this movie so skip this one people who don't like gore, looks great. I don't mind gore if it looks real. My only complaint as far as the gore goes is there's one moment, maybe the standout brutal gore shot, that feels excessive. One shot of it would have been enough. But other than that the gore is solid and makes sense in the movie.
The acting is decent in this film. My collaborators might disagree but I wasn't bothered by any of the acting. Of course the always reliable Elizabeth Banks plays the mother here with David Denman, Roy from The Office, as the father. They work well together and felt like a real couple. Newcomer Jackson A. Dunn is Brandon and he does a solid job for his first feature film. I think a better director would have really gotten a remarkable performance out of him but I had no problem with his performance as Brandon.
That brings us to the director, David Yarovesky, who previously only directed one film, The Hive. I've never directed a film. I imagine it is a hard thing to do but I was not impressed with the direction of this film. I think it was competently made but I think this story needed a steadier hand at the wheel. I fully praise Yarovesky for doing what he did with a budget of only six million. Really anyone reading this, be impressed by that. But I think this premise and script deserved to be beefed up a little more and perhaps a slightly higher budget with a more established horror director.
This film is more horror than superhero. Make no mistake about that. It relies on you knowing the story of a certain alien who crash lands in Kansas and grows up to be a Jesus allegory. But in the context of this film we need to see Brandon discovering his powers. We get some of that, a tiny bit, but like most things in this film we needed a bit more. I don't hate this film. I like it. I do. I'll probably watch it again when it comes to home media. I'll be very interested if we get a directors cut. Hardcore horror fans might enjoy although it's not really scary. Move on from jump scares horror directors.
I want to love Brightburn and that's the main issue. It won't let me. In the end I only like Brightburn for most of it. I do love about the last twenty-five minutes. Yes fantastic. But I needed more leading up to it.
Rating: 3/5 (remarkable what they got accomplished on this budget)
When I did my most anticipated films of 2019, this was my number one film on that list. I was so excited to see this film. I thought this was going to be my favorite film of the year. Sadly it did not live up to those expectations. There's a lot I like in Brightburn but together as a film it leaves much to be desired.
Brandon Breyer is that quiet kid who no one likes. When he turns twelve his birthday party is his parents and aunt and uncle. A trope we've seen before but it gets the idea across. We sometimes have tropes for a reason. But there's something off about Brandon. He never has been hurt. He's smarter by a wide margin than every other kid. There's also something calling to him in the basement of his parents barn. I guess that's what you would call it. A basement? Sure. Puberty is not kind to this kid and soon he regards those around him to be weak. The trailers spell it out. Evil Superman.
There's a saying that less is more. Brightburn sadly does not benefit from that saying. It needed more. Brandon switches gears too quickly. He's almost too childish at the start of the movie. His relationship with his parents seems too strong for him to turn on a dime as quick as he does in the movie. We needed more of him resisting these sinister urges or something. Also some of the character work seems rushed. There's a waitress character that becomes antagonistic to him later on in the film but from her introduction she seems to be disgusted by him. Give her a reason to be wary of him and not just come across as some insane woman who hates a twelve-year-old. The short run time is the main detriment to this film. This film and story needed another twenty to thirty minutes in the middle.
I am wholly impressed by the fact this film looks as good as it does in a budget of only six million dollars. That's insane and bravo to the filmmakers. The gore, oh theres gore in this movie so skip this one people who don't like gore, looks great. I don't mind gore if it looks real. My only complaint as far as the gore goes is there's one moment, maybe the standout brutal gore shot, that feels excessive. One shot of it would have been enough. But other than that the gore is solid and makes sense in the movie.
The acting is decent in this film. My collaborators might disagree but I wasn't bothered by any of the acting. Of course the always reliable Elizabeth Banks plays the mother here with David Denman, Roy from The Office, as the father. They work well together and felt like a real couple. Newcomer Jackson A. Dunn is Brandon and he does a solid job for his first feature film. I think a better director would have really gotten a remarkable performance out of him but I had no problem with his performance as Brandon.
That brings us to the director, David Yarovesky, who previously only directed one film, The Hive. I've never directed a film. I imagine it is a hard thing to do but I was not impressed with the direction of this film. I think it was competently made but I think this story needed a steadier hand at the wheel. I fully praise Yarovesky for doing what he did with a budget of only six million. Really anyone reading this, be impressed by that. But I think this premise and script deserved to be beefed up a little more and perhaps a slightly higher budget with a more established horror director.
This film is more horror than superhero. Make no mistake about that. It relies on you knowing the story of a certain alien who crash lands in Kansas and grows up to be a Jesus allegory. But in the context of this film we need to see Brandon discovering his powers. We get some of that, a tiny bit, but like most things in this film we needed a bit more. I don't hate this film. I like it. I do. I'll probably watch it again when it comes to home media. I'll be very interested if we get a directors cut. Hardcore horror fans might enjoy although it's not really scary. Move on from jump scares horror directors.
I want to love Brightburn and that's the main issue. It won't let me. In the end I only like Brightburn for most of it. I do love about the last twenty-five minutes. Yes fantastic. But I needed more leading up to it.
Rating: 3/5 (remarkable what they got accomplished on this budget)
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