10 Sci-Fi Movie Ideas Too Good To Fail (That Did It Anyway)
2. Brightburn - Evil Superman! (Is Not A Particularly Interesting Or Compelling Hero, Turns Out)
“Evil Superman” is a pretty perfect two-word pitch as far as high-concept ideas go. We’ve all wondered what would have happened if Krypton’s favourite son had grown up less morally righteous than Clark Kent, and there’s an intense in-built “nature versus nurture” conflict to explore in the story of a not-so superman who uses his immeasurable powers for evil instead of good.
Not only that, but Guardians of the Galaxy helmer James Gunn could be the ideal director for such a project, melding the flair for inventive blockbuster-sized action set pieces seen in his later career with the mean streak of dark humour which shows up in his earlier efforts. Hell two of Gunn’s earlier films, 2010’s Super and 2001’s The Specials, centred around subverting standard superhero stories and twisting them into something stranger, meaner, and darker.
All of which makes it even more strange and incomprehensible that 2019’s gloomy Brightburn turned out so lame, a self-serious dud whose occasional jagged flashes of gory humour are as misjudged as its jet-black tone. Tension-free and insultingly simple in its approach to character and story, the film failed to mine its genius premise for action, scares, laughs, or much of anything at all really.