Brightburn

Brightburn is not your happy, pg-13 super hero film. We all know the Superman story. The Kents cannot have children. They are gifted from the heavens with a child who grows to become the savior of Man. Yes the Superman story is not subtle in its origins.

Brightburn gives us the Omen twist on that. A couple trying hard to have a child is gifted with a child from the heavens from a glowing red craft. He most definitely does not become mankind’s savior.

Instead, we see a mostly normal child begin to hit puberty and begin to change. Just like the Kents, the Breyer family kept the craft Brandon arrived in in their barn. It begins to glow and affect Brandon in the night. Brandon begins to exhibit powers and abilities beyond the mortal man.

But without the extreme morals of someone brought up by the Kents. A more realistic portrayal of an awkward kid, somewhat picked on who begins to lose touch with regular people. Then embraces being different and being sociopathic to the extreme.

It is made very clear that Brandon has lost almost all traces of human emotions near the end. He is mostly going through the motions feeling superior to everyone.

Do not expect a happy ending.

Brightburn does not shy away from the gore either.

Starring: Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A. Dunn, Emmie Hunter, Matt Jones, Meredith Hagner, Becky Wahlstrom, Gregory Alan Williams, Annie Humphrey

Captain Marvel

I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. The origin story is sprinkled throughout until we get the payoff near the final act.

It opens with a nice tribute to Stan Lee. His cameo, while brief, was perfect.

This movie has easter eggs galore. We get a young character who may become Photon in present day MCU. We get young Fury and Colson. We get Ronan the Accuser as well as one of his henchman introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy. The movie also plays with Fury losing his eye.

Captain Marvel has many light and funny moments.

The theater I was in was filled with adults and children. Barring one child getting upset when the skrulls were on screen, most had a blast and were cheering Carol Danvers on .

Just like GotG, the souindtrack for this movie is an amazing throwback. This time to the 90s.

Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law, Annette Bening, Lashana Lynch, Clark Gregg, Rune Temte, Gemma Chan, Algenis Perez Soto, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Chuku Modu, Akira Akbar, Azari Akbar

Synopsis: The story follows Carol Danvers as she becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. Set in the 1990s, Captain Marvel is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Happy Death Day 2U

Not quite as fun as the original. Happy Death Day 2U gives us a bit of a genre swap. More SciFi film than horror.

We start off the film with someone else stuck in a murder loop. This transitions to Tree in an alternate reality in another murder loop. An alternate reality where her mother is alive and Carter is dating Danielle.

The cause of the loops is explained. It’s ok. But I would have enjoyed it more if there was no explanation and the phenomenon hit different people. Almost like It Follows.

Still this was a fun film to watch. I hope they can make a third film since the after credits scene leaves it wide open for another.

Starring: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Phi Vu, Suraj Sharma, Sarah Yarkin, Rachel Matthews, Ruby Modine, Steve Zissis, Charles Aitken, Laura Clifton, Missy Yager, Jason Bayle, Rob Mello

Synopsis: Collegian Tree Gelbman wakes up in horror to learn that she’s stuck in a parallel universe. Her boyfriend Carter is now with someone else, and her friends and fellow students seem to be completely different versions of themselves. When Tree discovers that Carter’s roommate has been altering time, she finds herself once again the target of a masked killer. When the psychopath starts to go after her inner circle, Tree soon realizes that she must die over and over again to save everyone.

Venom



Venom is an ok movie. I loved the interactions between the symbiote and Eddie Brock. Whether it was the conversations Eddie would appear to be having by himself as he walked down the street or to the symbiote’s input when Eddie is talking to another person.

The symbiote scenes are CGI. But not terrible CGI. Passable.

Thankfully, they did not try to force a spider symbol on his chest since this version of Venom has no real connection to Spider-Man. Sure Eddie is a West Coast transplant from New York. A former reporter for the Daily Globe (not the Bugle). And one of the astronauts from the beginning is named Jameson, but that is it. At least that I can remember.

The main villain, Carlton Drake, is your typical God-Complex, super rich, megalomaniac.

The plot is nothing to write home about. It gets the job done. It sets up Venom as an anti-hero. I like where the movie ends up. I think a sequel can focus more on the antics of Venom. And needs to not be symbiote-heavy.

Starring: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, Reid Scott, Jenny Slate

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The Predator



The Predator is not a reboot, thankfully. It acknowledges the previous entries (minus AVPs).

The movie opens with McKeen’s team in Mexico attempting to assassinate drug cartel members to free as hostage. But a predator ship crashes the party. MvKeen is the only survivor ad brought back to the states – but not before shipping a mask and gauntlet to his PO Box back home.

We get a scientist specialized in hybridization to the government secret base where the predator that crashed is being held. Things escalate as the predator escapes and McKeen and a bus load of section 8 patients attempt to hunt it down.

But the predator is itself being hunted by a bigger scarier version. All trying to get to McKeen’s son for the tech he got in the mail.

Zany bloodshed ensues.

The plot is all over the place. I wish it had been more stripped down. It does setup a possible sequel.

Starring: Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Augusto Aguilera, Yvonne Strahovski, Jake Busey

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