Join as Eviliv3 reviews David Yarovesky’s Brightburn. The story follows Brandon Breyer, a young boy of extraterrestrial origin reared on Earth who discovers he has superpowers, using them with dark intentions.You can learn more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brightburn
Show Notes
Intro
Welcome to Eviliv3, the live media commentary show that answers the question, what should you do if you find a child in a crashed ship? Subscribe if you’re new to the channel, because today we are reviewing Brightburn!
Discussion
- Log Line
- What if a child from another world crash-landed on Earth, but instead of becoming a hero to mankind, he proved to be something far more sinister?
- Budget $6–12 million
- Box office $33.2 million
- Release date May 24, 2019
- Music by Tim Williams[1]
- Directed by David Yarovesky
- Written by Brian Gunn & Mark Gunn
- Starring
- Elizabeth Banks as Tori Breyer: Brandon’s adoptive mother and Kyle’s wife
- David Denman as Kyle Breyer: Brandon’s adoptive father and Tori’s husband
- Jackson A. Dunn as Brandon Breyer / Brightburn: a superpowered alien who is adopted by the Breyer family
- Meredith Hagner as Merilee McNichol: Tori’s sister, Brandon’s aunt and Noah’s wife who works as Brandon’s school counselor
- Matt Jones as Noah McNichol: Brandon’s uncle and Merilee’s husband
- Gregory Alan Williams as Sheriff Jerrold Deever: a local sheriff of the small town
- Anne Humphrey as Deputy Aryes: Deever’s partner
- Emmie Hunter as Caitlyn Connor: a girl who is initially sympathetic to Brandon but later becomes scared of him
- Becky Wahlstrom as Erika Connor: Caitlyn’s mother who believes Brandon is a menace
- Jennifer Holland as Ms. Espenschied: Brandon’s school teacher
- Abraham Clinkscales as Royce: a young boy who bullies Brandon
- Christian Finlayson as Fauxhawk: one of the kids who bullies Brandon
- Steve Agee as EJ
- Stephen Blackehart as Travis
- Elizabeth Becka as Principal Elaine Susko
- Terence Rosemore as P.E. Teacher
- Mike Dunston as Reporter
- Michael Rooker as The Big T: a conspiracy theory blogger who reports on the super-powered beings
- Rainn Wilson cameos in a photograph during the credits as his character Crimson Bolt from producer James Gunn’s Super (2010).
- Notes:
- James Gunn said a sequel was discussed, but will probably never be made due to issues with the rights.
- Alternate Ending: An alternate ending was considered where Caitlyn, a character in the film, is shown in a lab having a robotic arm attached to her broken arm, indicating a darker path for her character.
- Potential Universe Expansion: Discussions were held about expanding the Brightburn universe, with ideas including a half-man/half-sea creature terrorizing the seas and a powerful witch character. However, as of April 2024, producer James Gunn expressed doubt about a sequel due to rights issues.
- In class, when describing wasps, Brandon says that wasps are more aggressive than bees, work in groups to attack, and that one species forces other insects to raise its young. This becomes a clear analogy of Brandon’s alien species of origin, as they left him to be raised by human parents and later instruct him to dominate his surroundings.
- The mask Brandon wears seems partially inspired by wasps.
- Michael Rooker plays a YouTube conspiracy theorist in a short sequence during the end credits. He compares the footage of Brightburn to other mysterious figures that he believes the government is trying to cover up. The figures resemble a twisted version of DC Comics Justice League (2017). Rooker’s character mentions a sea creature over turning a boat, an allusion to Aquaman (2018) and a witch strangling people with ropes, a probable analog to Wonder Woman (2017). Also shown in the graphic behind Rooker’s character is an alien being, possibly a reference to the Martian Manhunter and an image of the Crimson Bolt, which was Rainn Wilson’s character from James Gunn’s earlier film Super (2010) who had some similarities to Batman.
- Superman traditionally stands for “truth, justice and the American way”. The essay Caitlyn is writing when she’s visited by Brandon is “The Decline of Truth and Justice in the Modern World”
Outro
Thank you for tuning in. As always, like it or not, “Evil” spelled backwards is “Live.” So get out there and be evil.
Additional Notes
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/brightburn 57% Rotten, 67% Audience