BrightBurn (2019)

[Adam Lenhardt]

Title: BrightBurn

Genre: All

Director: David Yarovesky

Cast: Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Meredith Hagner, Matt Jones, Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee, Becky Wahlstrom, Terence Rosemore, Stephen Blackehart, Jackson A. Dunn, Annie Humphrey, Christian Finlayson, Emmie Hunter, Mike Dunston

Release: 2019-05-23

Plot: Plot unknown.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

What if Kal-El hadn't grown up to become Superman? What if he'd grown up to become someone else? Something else?

 

[SamT]

Strange. Still have no idea what this is about after watching the trailer.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Full Trailer:

 

[JimmyO]

Wow. Well, there's a new twist on an old story idea. This is being touted as a new genre: Superhero horror.

Interesting.

 

[Malcolm R]

New red band trailer/scene at EW. Note, if you're squeamish about "eye stuff" you may want to skip it.

https://ew.com/movies/2019/05/08/brightburn-clip-james-gunn/

 

[Colin Jacobson]

What if Kal-El hadn't grown up to become Superman? What if he'd grown up to become someone else? Something else?

"What if Superman was evil?" is exactly the vibe I get from the trailer.

Gonna be interesting to see if that's actually how the movie plays!

 

[Robert Crawford]

I almost saw this last night, but chose "Booksmart". However, I expect to use the A-List to watch "Brightburn" in the coming days.

 

[Patrick Sun]

It was okay, definitely gory in spots, with some hard laughs from the horror of it all. Could have used another 15 minutes of characterization bits, I think.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

How's it compare to Chronicle?

 

[Chris Will]

Is it full of jump scares or is it more suspenseful, thriller like?

 

[TravisR]

Is it full of jump scares or is it more suspenseful, thriller like?

There's no real jump scares that I remember but it is gory at a few points.

 

[Chris Will]

I’ve got no problem with gore, just not a fan of jump scares which is why I avoid most horror movies. Gore gets to a point where it is so over the top that it starts to look fake to me so it’s never been much of a bother.

 

[Malcolm R]

I’ve got no problem with gore, just not a fan of jump scares which is why I avoid most horror movies. Gore gets to a point where it is so over the top that it starts to look fake to me so it’s never been much of a bother.

You can view the scene I linked above in post #6 to get an idea of both the scare and gore levels.

 

[Chris Will]

Thanks for the info. I had already watch the scene from your link. That scene didn’t get to me too much so I might give this one a go tonight. The what if Superman was bad premise is intriguing.

 

[Malcolm R]

How's it compare to Chronicle?

I'd be interested to hear that, too. I liked Chronicle.

 

[Thomas Newton]

The what if Superman was bad premise is intriguing.

There have been several previous attempts at exploring this premise:

1. Superboy Prime. Of all the characters in this list, the most likely to torture or kill people for the sheer meanness of it (with no other motive). Basically combines less maturity than most 5-year-olds with a higher power level than most versions of Superman.
2. General Zod.
3. Black Adam.
4. Ultraman (Crime Syndicate analogue of Superman).
5. Elseworlds Superman who grew up in the Soviet Union.
6. Elseworlds where an ancestor of Superman's came to Earth. He flew the Founding Fathers to England to be executed, and then took over the British Government.
7. Red Daughter, on Supergirl.
8. Clark Kent, on Smallville, when under the influence of Red Kryptonite. (On that show, Red Kryptonite poisons the mind, much like Green Kryptonite poisons the body.)

 

[Jason_V]

After two previous aborted attempts to see Brightburn, finally got to the theater last night. I don't think it's great, but I was entertained and enjoyed seeing it. The kid plays creepy pretty well, the run time is nice and quick and I wasn't bored. The Superman parallels (or rip offs) are all over the place; I made a little game out of it about halfway through. There is one scene of gore that I got squeamish over, but the blood never became over the top for me. It all felt like a natural outgrowth of the story.

Do I need to see Brightburn ever again? Nope. Do I need a sequel or continuation? Nope.