{"id":7794,"date":"2019-05-23T20:03:34","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T03:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog-proxy.atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/?p=7794"},"modified":"2019-05-23T20:03:34","modified_gmt":"2019-05-24T03:03:34","slug":"brightburn-is-a-superman-origin-story-run-through-a-horror-house-filter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/brightburn-superman-origin-story\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Brightburn&#8217; Is A Superman Origin Story Run Through A Horror House Filter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re fatigued from the ubiquity of superhero films these days and want to see something fresh roll into movie theaters, then allow\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.atomtickets.com\/movies\/brightburn\/280997\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brightburn <\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to reinvigorate you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Produced by <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Guardians of the Galaxy <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">director James Gunn, and written by brother Brian Gunn and cousin Mark Gunn, director\u00a0David Yarovesky&#8217;s new superhero horror movie<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is filled to the brim with references to classic comic book story arcs and subversions of them. Given the creative minds behind it &#8212; and an almost direct cribbing from DC Comics superhero Superman\u2019s life &#8212; we have to wonder: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/history-of-superhero-horror-movies\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Is <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BrightBurn<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> actually a Superman origin story<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">? Or is there something more to this tale that makes it wholly its own thing?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Between the synopsis for the film and the trailer (which you can watch below), the Superman connections are obvious. The film begins with Tori and Kyle Breyer (played by Elizabeth Banks and David Denman), a childless couple living in a big farmhouse in rural Brightburn, Kansas. One night, as if a prayer were being answered, a vehicle crash-lands on the Breyer\u2019s property. Tori discovers a baby, wrapped in a red blanket, and convinced Kyle they should take him in. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1080\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/akhUTsXGASs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As seen in the trailer, it becomes clear that the Breyers\u2019 son, now named Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn), is different &#8212; similar to how a young Clark Kent was to the other kids in Smallville. Around the age of 12, Brandon soon discovers he is not like the other children. He has super strength; he can\u2019t be injured by things like lawnmower blades. Like Superman, he has laser-vision, and &#8212; also like Supes &#8212; he can fly. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brandon quickly embraces his powers and begins to craft a superhero persona. But as he uses his powers more and more, it becomes clear that Brandon\u2019s intentions are much darker than anyone might have guessed. Definitely way darker than the Man of Steel&#8217;s ever were.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might be thinking that this is probably a coincidence because <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how many <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">truly original superhero origin stories can there be? But if we break it all down, it\u2019s hard to deny that the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brightburn<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-Superman connection is too strong to be ignored. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>The Two Arrive On Earth In The Exact. Same. Way.<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As previously mentioned, Brandon is discovered in a spacecraft that has crashed on the Breyers\u2019 property. The couple swaddles him in a blanket, just like Jonathan and Martha Kent do for little Kal-El. There is no explanation for why he was put in the spacecraft, or any reveal as to where he came from or why Earth was his final destination. All the Breyers know is, like the Kents, this boy is a miracle. He is &#8220;here for a reason.&#8221; An answer to their prayers for a child.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, unlike Superman, Brandon has a very different reaction to his superpowers when they start manifesting during childhood&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>They Have Very Similar Childhoods\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<div style=\"width: 1090px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/blog-proxy.atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Brightburn-Sony.jpg\" width=\"1080\" height=\"675\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Credit: Sony)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Superman\u2019s special abilities were apparent to the Kents from the minute they took him in. Understanding that he was truly not like other human children and that he needed to be kept secret and safe from any possible scrutiny, the Kents tried to give their boy as &#8220;normal&#8221; a life as they could. In doing so, Pa Kent emphasized the importance of using his powers wisely. If he didn&#8217;t, then things could go to a bad place quickly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brightburn<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> takes the \u201cWhat if?\u201d approach to this aspect of Superman\u2019s origins and explores, with bloody and scary results, what would happen if a young alien boy decided to exploit his powers and use them for his own rash, impulsive purposes. What if someone with the powers of a hero used them for evil? Brandon tries to understand his powers, but he ultimately finds more use for them in a villainous capacity instead of &#8220;fighting for truth, justice, and the American Way.&#8221; Like Superman, one of Brandon&#8217;s earliest \u201cheroic\u201d acts is bringing a struggling airplane down safely back to earth. Unlike Superman, however, Brandon&#8217;s crashing plane doesn&#8217;t have the best or safest of landings, which soon raises suspicions about the boy&#8217;s intentions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Brandon and Superman&#8217;s power sets are virtually identical. But Brandon lacked what Kal-El had in abundance: An internal moral compass that helped him know when and how and why to use these powers for the greater good. For helping people. <em>Brightburn<\/em> succeeds largely on the questions it asks with its familiar premise: What if a child discovered these powers without ever really learning that they are not a toy? That they&#8217;re not something that can be exploited? What if Superman had a sadistic streak?<\/p>\n<p>Superman would never give in to the impulse to use his super strength to get back at bullies for bullying him. Brandon, though? Not so much. Tormenting his tormentors quickly escalates to straight-up murdering adults and that&#8217;s when\u00a0<em>Brightburn<\/em> takes a turn that is both sinister and, at times, tragic.<\/p>\n<h2><b>So, What Does This All Mean?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brightburn <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">never mentions anything about Superman or the Kents directly, the parallels between the stories are impossible to ignore. And that feels very intentional.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That shorthand allows the audience to invest with and connect to the R-rated Superman movie being presented.\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brightburn<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0is not part of the DC film or comics canons, but it certainly feels at home there. Albeit the more horrific, twisted take on the classic Superman story.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get your tickets for <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brightburn<\/span><\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atomtickets.com\/movies\/brightburn\/280997\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re fatigued from the ubiquity of superhero films these days and want to see something fresh roll into movie theaters, then allow\u00a0Brightburn to reinvigorate you. Produced by Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, and written by brother Brian Gunn and cousin Mark Gunn, director\u00a0David Yarovesky&#8217;s new superhero horror movie\u00a0is filled to the brim [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":7749,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[37,46],"class_list":["post-7794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies","tag-news","tag-newspage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7794"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7809,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7794\/revisions\/7809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}