Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Brightburn 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 21, 2019

Brightburn tells the story of a 12-year-old super villain named Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn), an alien boy whose space ship crash landed in Kansas and who was adopted by loving parents but who listens to a calling to use his powers for evil rather than good. One of the film's most interesting shots shows one of Brandon's first victims, a classmate whose hand he crushed with his superhuman strength, writing an essay entitled "The Decline of Truth and Justice in the Modern Era.” It's the story's anti-Superman sentiment put as succinctly as possible. Director David Yarovesky (The Hive) and Writers Brian and Mark Gunn have taken a rock-solid anti-genre, anti-hero concept and done little of interest with it. The movie is a madhouse of blood, sound, and special effects but feels rather empty, too introductory and lacking a hook beyond establishing the character in unimaginative, trope-laden ways.

The call.

An infertile couple finds a crash-landed alien baby outside their Kansas farm home. Kyle and Tori Breyer (David Denman and Elizabeth Banks, respectively) raise the boy as their own. About a dozen years have passed since the event. They have named him Brandon. He is highly intelligent and something of a social outcast. He is also imbued with superpowers. One day he flings an old lawnmower hundreds of yards, frustrated when it fails to start. He quickly discovers he’s both all-powerful and immune to physical harm. A dark inner voice, its source his own ship hidden in the family’s barn, calls upon him to use his powers for evil. As he begins to change, to realize who he is and what he can do, his behavior shifts: he’s growing more unpredictable and more antagonistic towards his parents and everyone in the community. They believe he’s hitting puberty, but it’s the dark, malicious voice that is proving too strong for him to overcome. As strange events and grisly murders unfold in his hometown of Brightburn, it becomes increasingly clear that Brandon is in the center of the violent maelstrom engulfing the town.

Whatever conflict exists in the movie exists from within, at least for a while, as Brandon discovers who he is and matures into his powers. There's little feel for any internal wrestling between good and evil, no rationalization or really even a hint of using his powers for anything other than violent mischief. For Brandon the satanic voice telling him to "take the world" (which comes complete with a selection of blood-red hellish lights) is never just a temptation: it's a calling. And the boy quickly comes to realize that there's no room for love and normalcy in his life, taking up the mantle of a violently bent trickster who toys with people because he can, because he must. The story is localized, too. Brandon never leaves Brightburn, his Kansas hometown. And his victims don't range too far from home, either. The film also introduces no real foil for Brandon. The conflict is between love and hate, but never within him. There's never any question as to which side will win. Tensions are low even as bloodshed is high, and the movie just never does manage to find any real hook, sense of scope, or feel for conflict.

The gruesome special effects will delight gore hounds. Wounds range from glass in an eye to a jaw severed from the skull, from laser eyes holing through a head to a smashed hand and broken wrist. Blood is everywhere and the production design team gets the most of every drop and every bit of destructive carnage Brandon leaves in his wake. But even the superior technical details cannot hide the monotonous, one-note story or cover for the lack of character depth. The actors do little with the material, either. Jackson A. Dunn delivers a properly devious turn as the powerful villain who cues up the opportunity to burn his bridges and burn down his life and, eventually, the world around him. The deviousness is in full effect even under the makeshift costume (which just sort of appears) and supported by some seamless visual effects (flying, laser eyes), but the actors cannot overcome a script which is no more than the proverbial one-trick pony.

Brightburn 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.

Brightburn arrives on the UHD format with a 2160p/HDR transfer. This is a fairly standard-issue UHD upgrade for a digitally shot movie and an upscaled 4K resolution from a 2K digital intermediate. Textural clarity and raw detail increases are minimal. Viewers will note ever-so-slightly sharper hairs, skin, clothing material definition, and environmental sharpness. Whether inside the family home or around the barn, whether dense sweaters or light material T-shirts, whether hair or skin, nothing stands out as more than mildly sharper, never mind greatly enhanced by the added resolution in direct A-B comparisons.

The HDR color spectrum brings the biggest change to the experience, and while it's more obvious than the minuscule uptick in fine detail and clarity, it's still not a radical departure from the Blu-ray. It doesn't look like much more has been done than turning the brightness down and pushing the contrast up a bit. There is definitely more color punch and depth to be enjoyed in bright scenes and deeper blacks at night, even if the net difference is not drastic. Orange hunting vests, the red ink Brandon uses to draw his Brightburn depictions on white notebook paper, natural greens, and various other clothes bear the fruits of a modest increase in color density. Skin tones are a little more full and healthy and deep and black levels enjoy greater stability and overall depth without absorbing and overwhelming low light details. This is certainly the better of the two physical presentations on the market, but fans expecting a mammoth shift from one format to the other or a striking museum-quality UHD will not find it here. It's fine for what the movie gives it to work with.

Brightburn 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This is a very potent Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Bass is intense as the film opens. The ominous beats build in volume and low end intensity. The low end is the dominant force throughout, both in its defining of music and effects alike. Music enjoys large posture and generous positioning, resulting in a more stage-filling presence supported by the overhead channels that were obviously missing from the Blu-ray's 5.1 configuration. Action and Horror effects are also given an abundance of life by way of the Atmos configuration and its prodigious bass. The climactic action scene yields serious rumble and incredible elemental and directional detail as a house is shredded to awesome sonic effect. On the flip side, more subtle elements are equally precise. Whispers emanate from all over the stage in chapter three when Brandon is first called to his ship and to evil, and again in chapter seven, this time accompanied by some seamlessly integrated rainfall and thunder effects. Light country ambience effortlessly balances the track in its more serene moments. Dialogue is perfectly clear and well prioritized from a natural front-center position.

Brightburn 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Brightburn's UHD disc carries over the audio commentary but otherwise leaves all extras to the bundled Blu-ray which also contains that same commentary and three featurettes (it's also worth noting that the Blu-ray included with the UHD features more generic disc artwork compared to the standalone BD/DVD release). A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Audio Commentary: Director David Yarovesky is joined by Cinematographer Michael Dallatorre and Costume Designer Autumn Steed Yarovesky. They delve into the film with a nice blend of light chitchat and more intricate detail, including production design, cast and performances, characters, costumes, narrative, an alternate ending, and so many of the intricacies involved in making a film. Fans should find it a worthwhile listen.
• Nature vs Nurture (1080p, 5:05): Cast and crew talk up the movie's story and themes and how the characters work into them.
• Hero-Horror! (1080p, 4:46): A look at the movie's take on classic Superhero motifs and turning them upside down into the Horror realm. It also explores characters, casting, and performances.
• Quick Burns Social Vignettes (1080p): Cast and crew snippets promoting the film. Included are Elizabeth Banks (0:38), James Gunn (1:12), and David Yarovesky (0:56).
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

Brightburn 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Brightburn feels like an incomplete movie. There is essentially no third act, at least not within a more traditionally structured story. The film introduces the character and sees him grow into his powers while cutting ties with everything that once loved and could love him, but it leaves it at that. There's no challenge, no conflict, no opposition on his plane. Perhaps the opposition is emotion, but there's also no pull between right and wrong, and the family ties are not strong enough to even tempt Brandon to step away from mayhem. The picture is passably entertaining, at least, and it's technically sound, but it needs more. Sony's UHD offers little video upgrading over the Blu-ray -- slightly improved color and contrast are really about it -- but the Dolby Atmos soundtrack is a clear step up from the Blu-ray's 5.1 lossless track. Recommended.