‘Brightburn’ Review Roundup: What Critics are Saying About Sony’s “Evil Superman”

The Superman narrative got a new storyline from Sony’s recently-released Brightburn. The film re-imagines Superman’s early life (although not directly stated that he’s Clark Kent nor Superman) and divert the scenarios into a darker, more sinister situation.

The story begins with Tori Breyer (Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle Breyer (David Denman) finding a newborn baby that fell from the sky. The couple then decides to adopt the child and raise it as their own, naming him Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn). It fast forwards to the boy’s early adolescence as Brandon discovers his superhuman abilities. But unlike the other Superman films, this is where the story takes a dark turn for the worst, turning the film into a whole new subgenre—a superhero-horror tale.

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Review Roundup of Sony’s ‘Brightburn’

Since the release of Brightburn, critics have emptied out their thoughts about the superhero horror movie. It seems like not everyone likes the movie’s take of ‘Evil Superman’ as it did not come across as favorable to the majority’s taste. Here’s what the critics are saying about Brightburn so far:

Benjamin Lee of The Guardian said that it is “refreshing” that the film did not overstretch the unfolding of events not like any other superhero movie. Lee went on to say, “I found myself craving a little bit more meat along the way.” However, he also mentioned that “we’re thrown reveal after reveal without much connective tissue. While it might sound unreasonable to expect any emotional depth in a film such as this, more time could have been afforded to exploring the weight of Brandon’s discovery beyond what feels like a montage of trailer-ready a-ha! moments. It’s a film that’s good enough that you want it to be better, a rare genre example of less not proving to be more.”

“The premise isn’t bad, even if the evil-Superman origin story was done better in “Chronicle,” says Dennis Harvey of Variety. He also mentioned that the problem of the film is not really the production budget but the lack of imagination. He adds, “the execution, however, is lacking, particularly in freshness, humor or style. If what can make an otherwise clock-punching popcorn entertainment memorable are its idiosyncrasies, this movie offers only some gratuitously dwelt-upon gore.”

Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter says that although the narrative of the film is not entirely original, it was somehow effective enough. He also mentions the lack of “visual stylization” and “wit” of the film.

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“It’s also unclear whether this is all supposed to be a blood-soaked goof or a “Chronicle”-like adolescent potboiler or just a straight-on fright night,” says Robert Abele of The Wrap. “But while we can perhaps be grateful that the superficiality of “Brightburn” probably kept it from opting to exploit elements of disturbed-kid narratives that have been all too common in our more tragic news stories, what remains is still never terribly entertaining as either popcorn or a bent take on superhero myths.”

Scott Mendelson of Forbes said that ‘Brightburn’ seemed more like a “natural extension/evolution of Snyder’s controversially self-critical DC Films flicks.” He also added “What we get, in terms of acting, suspense, violence, and gore is most compelling. But you’ll be left wanting more by default, and it comes to an end just as it’s really starting to live up to its gonzo potential.”

“The terror is baked in – what if a super-strong space alien crashed to Earth and wanted to kill everyone? now that’s an idea right there – but “Brightburn” isn’t content to let that wicked concept do its magic,” Kate Erbland of IndieWire said. “Soon enough, it’s just another scary movie with a nutso bad guy burning stuff down and looking freaky while doing it, and that’s something we’ve all seen before.”

Jesse Hassenger of AV Club describes Brightburn further by saying, “this ribbing makes more sense on paper than it does as an actual feature film. Man Of Steel, for all of its misguided action-climax hubris, saved some of its too-rare sensitivity for Clark Kent’s childhood, suggesting how the onset of superhuman powers might be at least as scary and confusing as it is thrilling. Brightburn just snickers like a bratty teenage gorehound.”

Although, most of the reviews from media outfits say that the film was not that great of a deal, Witney Seibold of IGN describes Brightburn as “something that doesn’t take its satire to any kind of satisfying extreme – although a mid-credits stinger does include a larger joke at work – as a superhero murder thriller, it is perfectly entertaining.”