 Directed by: David Yarovesky Written by: Brian Gunn & Mark Gunn Produced by: James Gunn, Kenneth Huang Executive Producers Brian Gunn, Mark Gunn, Simon Hatt, Dan Clifton, Nic Crawley, Kent Huang Cast: Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A. Dunn, Matt Jones and Meredith Hagner Length: 91 minutes What if a child from another world crash-landed on Earth, but instead of becoming a hero to mankind, he proved to be something far more sinister? STORY: Tori and Kyle Breyer (Elizabeth Banks and David Denman) live on a farm and are struggling with infertility. On the night they're trying to conceive, a rocketship - with a child - crashlands in their yard. Ten years later, the child, Brandon Breyer (Jackson Dunn) is about to celebrate his 12th birthday. Breyer is too smart for his class and he has a habit for drawing a sigil with a line down the center and two sets of triangles pointing in opposite directions. However, as most 12 year-old boys do, he begins to change. While has never fit in with the lower-middle-class farming community of Brightburn, Kansas, he goes from being a mild-mannered pre-teen to something quite sinister. Tori explains to Brandon that he is more than human. Instead of embracing his new found abilities to help mankind, he becomes something more monstrous and then begins picking off members of the community. REVIEW: "Brightburn" is a reaction to the Zack Snyder Superman movies/"Smallville" television series the same way "Galaxy Quest" was a reaction to the original "Star Trek" movies and television series. In their own unique ways, they're almost "thank you" letters. Brandon regularly wears red and blue (as did Tom Welling's Clark Kent did in "Smallville") and in the more emotional moments between Brandon and Tori, the musical cues were similar to the musical score between Henry Cavill and Diane Lane in "Man of Steel." Banks and Dunn have a real chemistry. Banks seamlessly went from supportive mother to horrified parent realizing something must be done. Like Banks, Denman effortlessly went from doting father to taking matters into his own hands. As for Dunn, he had an "Edward Norton Presumed Innocent" way of going from sympathetic to being able to scare with a simple stare. Director David Yarovesky added subtle touches to the world Brandon Breyer that can easily be missed, which is one of the many reasons this movie should be viewed more than once. Yarovesky chose Brandon's "evil form" with a homemade mask and criss-cross shoelace-like design around the mouth with the laces hanging past the chin giving an unsettling feel. It was reminiscent of the Ood from "Doctor Who" (back when it was still good). However, another writer said he was reminded of the squid-faced-demigod, Cthullu. If that be intentional, than Yarovesky and the Gunns have added a Lovecraftian layer to something apocalyptic. FINAL THOUGHTS: While the movie is rife with obvious comparisons to comic book movies, it can be compared to the "Omen" movies of the 1970s/1980s. We are introduced to Damien and watch as he takes over the world as the Anti-Christ. It is hoped they continue with Brandon's growth into an alien overlord. "Brightburn" also has touches of the "It's a Good Life" segment from the 1983 "Twilight Zone: The Move," which featured a pre-Bart Simpson Nancy Cartright thrown into a television world by a super powerful boy. Finally, Michael Rooker was hilarious as a Alex Jones-like YouTube host screaming that besides Brandon there are stories of other super powerful beings in the world ready to make themselves known. The implication is a future story with a corrupted version of the Justice League. ABOUT DON EVERETT SMITH JR. Don is a comic book writer, author and a recent convert to horror writing. His latest book "Blood from a Tombstone" is available on Amazon.com as an e-book from Tombstone Stories Publishing. He publishes his comic books, which feature the Vampire of the Lost Highway and the Candle Man, under his comic book imprint Pinion Comics. He has contributed stories to such books as “The New Adventures of the Masked Writer” from Pro Se Books and “Beyond Watson: A Sherlock Holmes Anthology of Stories Not Told by Dr. John H. Watson” for Belanger Books. Don has written comic book histories about the various branches of the United States Military, as well comic book biographies on radio host Rush Limbaugh, President Ronald Reagan and Jesus Christ. When not writing fiction and comic books, Don writes articles about Lycoming County, Pennsylvania and its history as well as authoring the historical true-crime “The Goffle Road Murders of Passaic County”. He lives in Central Pennsylvania, with his wife Laura, an artist, and their three cats and tortoise.   |
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