‘Brightburn’ tells a horrifying ‘What if?’ story about one of comics’ best heroes

Posted on May 31, 2019

By MARK VIOLA

I think we’re all mostly familiar with the origin story of Superman, the classic comic book superhero. Sent from a dying world, a baby Superman crashlands on Earth and is adopted by a farming couple, who raise him and only tell him on his other-worldly origin when his powers begin to manifest as a young teenager. And, of course, he grows up to become one of the world’s most powerful superheroes (at least in the DC Comics universe), champion of truth, justice and the American way.

But what if the young alien boy wasn’t predisposed to goodness? What if his desires and predilections led him down a different path? That is the premise of the new horror film “Brightburn,” produced by James Gunn, director of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, and written by two of Gunn’s brothers. Directed by David Yarovesky (“The Hive”), “Brightburn” is really good at building the tension over the course of its lean 91-minute runtime, but is a little too enthusiastic in its gory presentation (at least in my opinion).

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