Because nothing says faith like getting thrown out against a Disney tentpole release.
Perhaps I'm in the minority of folks who were somewhat taken in by the admittedly novel premise of "Brightburn" but try as I may to not take that lack of admiration out on the movie, it's impossible for me to not hold it to task for that.
Ignoring the plethora of comic books spanning decades that have twisted the "Superman" concept into dark reflections of itself to varying degrees of success, DC's own infatuation with scrubbing out the more outlandish Silver Age camp that has come to define the character in pop culture, and the morally confused and compromised revisionist take on the character as cinematically represented this decade to very little success, I just can't wrap my head around the fascination of concept with an answer as simple as, if Superman were bad then bad things would happen.
Our culture has fought long and hard to make persist the narrative that absolute power corrupts our feeble human consciences for so long that at this point it would actually be more refreshing to see the narrative of a genuinely good person acting out of authentic altruism with super powers.
With that in mind, any of the potentially horrific ramifications of an invincible monster on the planet seem to fall rather flat but they would have at least been something to give "Brightburn" some meat atop its hollow skeletal structure.
The hard left turn promised by the unfolding of a seemingly traditional "Superman" narrative gets a bit of a cop out, as young preteen Brandon Breyer receives something of a telepathic calling to the vessel he arrived on Earth in as an infant before beginning to display burgeoning sociopathic tendencies. Because, however, it is never made explicitly clear as to whether or not this behavior has been programmed into him or is the tragic end result of who he grows up to be, a lot of the emotional beats attempting to highlight some sort of tragedy or character study fall flat, drawing attention to dialogue that ranges from outright bad at worst to pedestrian at best that is beneath the admittedly talented cast.
Not content to simply waste those opportunities, the film occasionally dabbles in areas of social commentary with regard to small town rural American white privilege, i.e. Brandon's family connections that can bail him out of trouble, his mother's desire to overlook his lethally dangerous faults in favor of seeing her precious little angel, the long term ramifications of not properly grappling with children's mental health issues simply because hormones make them difficult to manage, etc.
Similarly to the superhero deconstruction issues, though, these topics more or less remain window dressing to a film that is more concerned with positioning its pint-sized villainous figure as a modern slasher.
Credit where credit is due, "Brightburn" definitely works on the level of horror fueled spectacle that it was clearly aiming for and while the grander ideas it seems to carry may have merely been a result of an effective but dishonest marketing campaign, the spectacle and atmosphere don't hide the thinness of a story that would be a villain's brief origin flashback at best in a much better superhero movie, padded out to a mercifully brief hour and a half runtime.
5 Sociopath of Steel out of 10
Olivia Wilde's directorial debut about overachieving high schoolers learning to lighten up may take notes from playbooks established by an entire era of coming of age comedies but manages to sing with its own unique voice with a sense of style and a string of contemporary twists that set it apart from the pack and provide a modern coming of age comedy its generation desperately needs and deserves.
At first glance, it's easy to mistake "Booksmart" as a fairly mundane sample of a glut of crass, broad, well meaningly progressive but ultimately poorly directed comedies but beneath its exterior planted firmly between off the wall indie sensibilities and an almost manic, mile-per-minute editing style reminiscent of irreverent mainstream features, the film contains a surprising amount of depth that betrays the basic presentation of its own marketing.
Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein magnetic and endearing chemistry compel the film forward with just enough improvisation to feel authentic but ultimately landing on a strong script to come across as real human beings and the character actors they're surrounded by dedicate to inhabiting their surreal world stitch together with a stylized Generation Z meets Post-Grunge aesthetic and quick cut editing designed to ebb and flow with the setting and mood of their roadtrip-esque antics to find a wild party and leave their social mark upon the graduating class of their high school.
The movie definitely delivers consistent laughs from start to finish but never at the cost of characterization, which make the moments of drama that crop up surprising and all the more astonishingly effective.
The realization of its protagonist's needs to step out of their shell comes at the realization of just how hollow the standing of the institutions they've been playing into truly are and the toll that may take upon them.
"Booksmart" challenges the social perceptions we're brainwashed into buying into when we're young, displays the damages of wholly subscribing to stereotypes and binary thinking, and demystifies the American myth that status and institutional sanctioning is entirely merit based.
While all of these messages certainly land a level of unexpected weight to the film, it doesn't do so in a self-righteously ponderous capacity indicative of a cynical outlook on life but rather a much needed reminder to young adults that these early years of adult life will be the only years of guaranteed freedom from the burdens of the world they will have and should be treasured and thoroughly lived and explored while they last.
In times where it occasionally feels like the sun rising the next day isn't a guarantee, that's definitely something they should be hearing now more than ever. Perhaps, I'm putting a little to much stock into that message for a comedy but it's definitely a message that I wish I had heard and taken to heart when I was the same age as these girls.
"Booksmart" is not necessarily a film for everybody; ignoring the heavy feeling of non sequiturs composing key scenes of the film that won't be everyone's cup of tea in terms of comedy, the movie also has all of the hallmarks of an aggressively independent production from the mind of its creator that understandably won't resonate with everybody because of how personal it feels.
Those warts in its makeup however ultimately go a long way in making the movie feel far fresher than the time tested tropes that it runs through, making for a comedy that's consistently amusing at worst and hilarious and thoughtful at best.
8 Awkward High School Experiences out of 10
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