Canary Duty - Brightburn

Now for those that many years ago read my Man of Steel rant and some of its follow-ups might guess, I have been very curious about this one for a while now.  I have a lot of fondness for the character of Superman, so you might think I'd be against a film that's all about the concept "what if Clark Kent was more like Michael Myers".  Actually, I like the idea immensely!  With a "dark reflection" story like this, you can have a proper examination of what it is that makes Superman... Superman.  Why did he become the hero rather than the villain?  What if the wholesome upbringing by Jonathan & Martha Kent, which to me far more shapes who Superman is than his Kryptonian heritage, had gone very wrong? A film like this has a lot of potential to explore that idea then, but does it achieve that goal?  What's more, whether or not it does, how well does it work as a horror film?

On that first point, not really. Certainly Brightburn does get a good deal of mileage from its novel premise, but it doesn't quite achieve as much as it really could.  Now what I found interesting about the plotting is that early sections do hint that at some point the idea of it being a Superman story was going to be a surprise to the audience. It actually feels a lot more like a sort of demonic possession tale early on, especially in the slow reveal of Brandon Breyer's powers, and how much his personality changes as a result of his alien heritage coming of age.  But playing the horror angle that way is what kneecaps the whole nature v. nature angle it could have played with.  The source of Brandon's evil acts are external to the human race, so it's no reflection on Tori and Kyle Breyer (who they seem to be pretty nice parents all things considered) or factors like how he's treated by his peers.  Now of course there's a lot of "people fearing what's different" later on, but it's always in direct relation to something bad he's done, when such reactions are far from unreasonable.  So if you're looking for some insight into the Superman character from that direction, it's not to be found here.

Given what inspired the Superman story, does this make Brightburn an AntiMoses film, and is that a first?

However it does tough on something else that might be considered a bit topical; the idea of privilege through birth.  Clark Kent, even when he takes on the mantle of Superman, never really stops being Clark Kent, he sees himself as a boy from Kansas first, heir to a dead world second.  Brandon Breyer on the other hand, once he discovers his alien origin, goes all in on it, especially in terms of the mission he was sent to Earth for (said mission means he's a bit more like Goku in some ways).  The way he talks about being "superior" and the way he just assumes ownership or agency of things/people also shows this, that he considers his powers to be a free pass for him just getting his every whim.  So what this film is saying that a source of true destructive evil is a white boy with an overstated sense of entitlement his parents are powerless to stop, and unwilling to see warning signs of until it's too late.  Yep, that sounds pretty accurate for a lot of what's going on in the world.  Brightburn may not be that deep a film, but it does have at least one valid point to make.

How does it work as a horror film then?  Pretty good actually; director David Yarovesky knows how to set up a scare scene well, especially ones that use Brandon's powers.  You know that thing Batman is particularly fond of, just vanishing as soon as whoever he's talking too's back is turned?  Yeah, this film notes well how similar it is to say Jason Voorhees' off-screen teleportation, and uses that to full effect.  I will say there are a few moments that only really work by characters being stupid, and/or temporarily forgetting that mobile phones exist, but in those cases they have excuses like those characters being drunk, being a kid, or not prepared for being hunted by essentially a demi-god.  Now it should be noted that I haven't technically seen the full film; it was cut for UK cinemas to get a 15 rather than an 18 rating due to some violence.  I think I noticed though exactly what part was cut; let's say it's something that's given the BBFC pause since the days of Lucio Fulci.  Even cut though, this one has a pretty nasty edge, with some very cringe inducing gore in parts.  Whilst this more goes for building tension and atmosphere, it does not hold back at its violent moments, so if you aren't good with gore, be warned.

Brandon really regrets not giving his gym gear a wash before repurposing it into a mask; it's hard to menace your victims when everything smells of armpits.

Brightburn is an OK horror film, using the novelty of it's Damien: The Omen II by way of DC premise quite well, but it's not much more than what some of the trailers have shown.  Actually, quick note; it's best to avoid the more recent trailers as it gives a lot of scares away, but the latest one actually gives away the last scene of the film!  What is it with Sony live action superhero movies and that happening?  OK, tell a lie; there's a scene in the credits that not only features a James Gunn regular, it also has a nod to a film by Gunn (who produced this and his brothers wrote the script), and suggestions that in the world of this film, Brandon isn't the only evil take on a superhero there.  So yeah, overall Brightburn is fun, but it does make you wish for something a lot deeper with the premise.  If you're looking for a good Superhero horror story, one good place might be Gail Simone's comic Leaving Megalopolis, or have a look at some of the things Longbox of the Damned has discussed over the years.  Or you could check out The New Mutants... if that ever manages to escape from the edit rooms at Fox!  (I wonder if the latest delay has something to do with this one coming out?)

Mini-Rant Time

Hey, just a little Easter Egg to this review to briefly talk about something sort of related, but Now I have been somewhat easy on Brightburn overall, perhaps it's because I was in the mood for a horror.  However, one other factor is some Superman related news I read this morning.  For reasons that are beyond me, someone at DC decided to let Frank "whoreswhoreswhoreswhores" Miller loose on the character.  Jesus wept, even after Holy Terror and All Star Batman & Robin, he still somehow gets gigs there.  And he's gone into his old habits, like giving baby Kal-El a Frank Miller-style narration voice, threatening Lana Lang with rape, and having Clark go into the marines.  Yes, really.  Oh, and in looking into this, I've now read about some of the stuff that happened in the previous "re-imagining of Superman's origin story" American Alien, which was written by someone who is apparently an even worse human being than Frank Miller if you can believe that.

Now why am I bringing this up?  Because some of the things that happen in these comics are a lot darker than anything that happens in Brightburn.  Let me just reiterate that; a horror satire of the character contains less adult and less controversial material than officially licenced comics about him, written by people who are very far indeed from Clark Kent's morality.  I was going to end this review with a joke about how dark it is compared to Man of Steel, but DC has actually managed to go beyond a joke!  You know, both DC and Marvel have talked about the difficulty of bringing in new readers, even as the popularity of superhero characters (which were originally created for, y'know, children) have skyrocketed.  Maybe they need to take another look at what is getting through their editorial standards and who they are hiring these days...