Brightburn

MY RATING: 3 of 10

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info: 24 May 2019

Genre: Horror and Sci-Fi
Director: David Yarovesky
Writer:Brian Gunn and Mark Gunn
Running Time: 1 Hour and 31 Minutes

Staring: Elizabeth Banks, David Denman and  Jackson A. Dunn

Rating? R

SPOILERS? A few little ones, but not enough to ruin it for anyone

STORYLINE

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.

MY REVIEW

The first thing I note is that David Yarovesky directed Guardians of the Galaxy (my Review), which I gave an 8, so my low hopes were raised a bit to low/medium. Add in that brothers Brian and Mark Gunn were the writers. Ah, Brian Gunn has a soft spot in my heart for being one of the writers of my favorite Mtv Boy Band parody from 2000, 2Ge+her.  and now my hopes were at a solid medium.

My expectations were pretty accurate. We'll get into the why's in a minute, but this movie was a mediocre mess that lacked a complete and compressive thought. I give them some credit for a handful of things that I will discuss below. I beg of you to the non-existent lord, do not pay money to go see this movie. Wait for it to come out of Netflix or HBO. Maybe if someone gives you a free movie pass, then you should.

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• A lot of what I liked about this movie was really subtext. It's the old question of nature vs. nurture. Without going into tooo much detail, the idea that this person could be raised by good and kind people, his nature took over. There was no fighting it for him. It was "In his DNA" to be who he was... a sinister force of nature. No matter what his parents, Tori played by Elizabeth Banks and Kyle played by David Denman, did or provided, he was not the kid they had hoped for. Specifically, Elizabeth Banks and her refusal to accept the things that are unfolding right before her eyes. It's the strong concept of a mothers love is unconditional. Maybe a little far in this movie, but it's a stong plot line.

• Great gore scenes. Guess who loves a good gore fest? That's right. THIS GIRL! I won't go into too much detail, just in the case that you decide to go see the movie. I love the some of the effects that they did to give us some pretty gruesome death scenes. I mean, that's what horror is about and THAT is one of the reasons that I gave up a few points on my review. I leave you with two words-- MELTED FACE!!

• Guest appearance by Michael Rooker, or as he is forever known to me, Merle from the Walking Dead.

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• I just don't like it when the writers of a movie think you're too dumb to make the conjectures and put the stories together unless they spoon feed it to you in the exposition. THIS. The writing wasn't bad, per se. But there were too many plot holes and pieces that just didn't work in reality. I get that they couldn't use the idea of Superman or the Kents in general, but the story is pretty much Bizarro Superman in an alternate world where he wasn't raised by the Kents. I have to say it, and SPOILER ALERT, but after a few deaths the sheriff comes a'knockin at the Breyer's door and Tori Breyer tells him to go away and HE DOES!? No law enforcement person who I know would just give up like that. That's just one of the many pieces that made me shake my head.

• The first thing I did when I got out of the theater was check my watch. I was CERTAIN that I was in there for more than it seemed. NOPE. That movie was only an 91 minutes long but it seemed like an eternity. It felt like the action sequences were too brief and the exposition was too long. 

• You had a good idea but ruined it with stock scare tactics that were too worn out for me to even jump when I was obviously supposed to.

• All I felt at the end was the obvious sequel in the making to a sub-par movie.

• I Just don't get the upside down laced up sweater as a mask. I don't get it. It's weird.

What QUESTIONS do I now have?

• Possible subtext? Was this a movie about the horror of puberty? Maybe?

BONUS!!As a big fan of The Office, I was happy to see David Denman who played Pam's first finance, Roy Anderson and Matt Jones who was the formidable Zeke, Dwight's cousin. 

On a personal note:

Rare sighting of my husband on the way to the movies. I conned him into a quick picture before we went in.. Dexter Morgan being as cute as he can be.. 3D Printed Jamie Lanisters golden Hand.