Brightburn

***Warning, contains spoilers***

Regular readers of this column will know I love Super Hero movies. They are easily my favourite genre. Now, don't get me wrong, a Super Hero movie is not my favourite movie of all time, but that is because Skyfall is truly exceptional and I love James Bond, but, as a genre the Super Hero genre is my favourite thing. I am really looking forward to the new Spider Man movie, especially as it is set in Europe rather than the USA as usual, which means Marvel are finally acknowledging the world doesn't end with America.

So, it was with curious excitement and also a bit of butterfly nerves that I went to see this latest Super Hero movie, made by the makers of the awesome Guardians Of The Galaxy. This movie was nothing like that though!

The reason I was nervous was because this isn't a normal Super Hero movie, for one thing it is independent, in the fact that it doesn't come under the D.C. or Marvel universes. However that's minor compared to the main thing. The biggest difference with this movie is that instead of doing good the boy with the power becomes bad. Very bad, in fact. Yes, he wears a cape etc but that's where the similarities end and that makes this movie very disturbing indeed.

This movie is marketed as an evil Super Hero movie, but I don't think it should be marketed like that. It's obviously branded that way to attract viewers, but it's not right. Hero's do good whereas this boy does bad and that is not a Hero, it's a villan. I think the term Super Villan rather than evil Super Hero would have been more appropriate.

This movie doesn't have any star names except Elizabeth Banks, who as usual plays a great part. However she isn't the focus of the movie, her son, played by Jackson A. Dunn is. Dunn is not a well known actor, but I think after this movie he will be. He plays an excellent if disturbing role as the boy turned evil.

I think what disturbs me and will disturb the audience so much is the movie is based on the Superman origin story. So, spaceship crashes to Earth, child is inside it and couple finds child and brings him up as their own, kid develops super powers, but the twist is he uses them for bad instead of good. The disturbing part is you don't expect Superman to be bad, and this very similar character is.

For the first 10 or so years, everything is fine, he is just a normal boy. But, he then starts to hit puberty and everything changes. He hears voices in his head telling him to take the world and he quickly descends from a normal kid into an evil creature.

He breaks a girls arm with his bare hands, he (spoiler alert), kills his mum and dad. The way he kills his mum is especially sad, and he even brings down a passenger plane causing the deaths of over 200 people.

The way the movie ends I'm fairly sure there will be a sequel, but I think the kid (Well, he might be an adult by then) will link up with other evil people with super powers to try to take over the Earth.

It is brilliantly acted and everyone involved with this movie should be commended for making such an excellent movie if incredibly unsettling and disturbing.

I think the fact that we are used to Super Heroes being good, and the fact that he is just a kid is the disturbing and upsetting part. Your mind just struggles to associate a child with such violence.

However, this is a quality 5 star movie. It's not the best movie ever made, but it is excellent. I highly recommend it to fans of the Super Hero and/or Horror movie genre.

This is not a Super Hero movie for kids but it is brilliant and disturbing! Class movie, well done all, 5 stars awarded. :)

*This review is all my own work, please don't reproduce without my permission but please visit my advertisers pages as they help keep the blog going thankyou  :)

Comments

Popular Posts