The concept of an evil Superman is nothing new, with numerous variants across print, film and television. Brightburn works to subvert the beats of a traditional Superman origin story, but never offers much beyond traditional creepy kid tropes. The director deftly establishes the history of a loving family dynamic before diving into worn ground about parent and adoption fears and strange children. Problematically, the main child never seems sympathetic to begin with, with a sullen stare and petulance oozing from every pore. Elizabeth Banks is quite better, effectively portraying her growing horror as the child slowly morphs from beloved son into something alien and disquieting. Unfortunately, the setup is woefully long and the payoff never quite justifies the tedium, following predictable patterns and formulaic beats. There are gruesome illustrations of horrors a superpowered youth might inflict, but the majority of the time he just stalks menacingly (shades of Superman Returns). Unfortunately, everything is buildup to a non-event, the awaited carnage and destruction one might hope for from an evil Superman occurring offscreen. The credits sequences are a horrible tease, as they hint at the levels of grandiose horror that the trailers implied with hint at franchise potential that hopefully can offer much more.
Brightburn