Movie of the Week: Bright

Alexa: My reaction when the credits finally rolled on “Bright” was, “Well, that’s two hours of my life I’m never getting back.” This movie is a complete mess. It makes “A Christmas Prince” look like a Best Picture contender. On paper, the concept has potential. It juxtaposes fantasy and contemporary cop thriller genres, but it’s not a strong example of either one. I completely agree with Jason that great fantasies hinge on their world building, and I think “Bright” fails miserably in that regard. The writing is awful and the story convoluted. After a pivotal event about a third of the way through the film, the action descends from mildly interesting to painfully boring. It wants to be an allegory about racism and police brutality but its treatment of both subjects is contrived and tone-deaf (i.e. “Fairy lives don’t matter today.” Seriously?!). It’s excessively gritty to the detriment of the story. For a concept like this to work, the movie has to have at least a little fun with itself, but there is none to be had in “Bright.” It takes itself way too seriously, and any attempts at humor are just cringe-worthy. Netflix ordered a sequel before “Bright” even premiered, so the filmmakers have another chance to do something more creative with this world. But after enduring the dreadful first film in the saga, I likely won’t be tuning in for more.

Joel: For those who don’t remember, there was a trailer for Bright that premiered during the Super Bowl at the beginning of this year. Bright has had what may be the biggest build up to a Netflix Original movie to date with us knowing about it’s premiere for almost a year now. In many ways, Bright was supposed to be something of a statement. This was the kind of movie with big actors, and high concepts. This was something that you would likely see in theaters, but you don’t need theaters anymore because Netflix has this covered. So Bright actually had a lot riding on it, at least more than your average Netflix original movie.

Ultimately there’s a lot of ambition in Bright that results in a big pile of nothing. The “fantasy creatures in an LA cop drama” idea is interesting enough in of itself, and the setup is a pretty simple one (elves = high class, orcs = low class, humans = middle class) but there’s actually a really interesting backstory that is hinted at throughout the movie. The idea of a war with a Dark Lord two thousand years ago, and the impact on society that it still has, is one that feels like it’s worth exploring. The way magic is treated in this world also feels like it’s worth more time than what the movie actually dedicated to it. There are so many points that feel like the movie could go in an interesting direction, but instead we opt for what ends up being the most boring option every time.

The movie plods along from scene to scene with nothing really working in either the transitions or the actual scenes themselves. Each scene feels so disconnected from the rest of the movie that there were several times where a character refers to something that had happened earlier only for me to realize that I genuinely couldn’t remember what they were talking about. It’s never make clear enough what is and isn’t important for the audience to keep track of leaving us to basically guess at what’s going on more often than not. It’s a muddied plot and ultimately a mess of a movie that’s frustrating because it feels like almost any other idea set in this world would result in a better movie. As Netflix continues to be one of the most dominant forces in the TV industry, they have yet to produce a movie that really has an impact on the film industry the way that their TV shows have.

Chris: It’s a great idea wasted on a jumbled mess. I saw the trailer for Bright months ago and I go excited because it’s a Sci-Fi movie mixed with what looked like a classic David Ayer movie and I thought this would be a good movie for Ayer to rebound from after Suicide Squad. Bright had an opportunity to be something special as far as originality as well as using it as a platform on social commentary but no, it devolved into a chaotic mess and not in the fun way. I’ll echo Alexa and Jason and complain about the lack of world building here, we’re thrown into a alternate 2017 with humans, orcs and elves living among each other with no explanation on how it got that way. And that’s the funny thing to me, I felt like I was smacked in the face by a mountain of excessive expository dialogue and none of it was information I actually cared about. Top all that with really clunky attempt at humorous dialogue and we’re left with a script that I not sure Max Landis should be proud of. Landis did go on twitter say that he “believes” the “fairy lives don’t matter” line was an adlib by Will Smith however, I’m not so sure about that one. Fairies are only introduced at the beginning and serve zero purpose to the rest of the movie except for that one punchline(?). Also, was Will Smith’s character being a Bright suppose to a surprised? Because it absolutely wasn’t and that moment got a big eye roll out of yours truly. Netflix already ordered a sequel but one would have to imagine they’re reconsidering this after the public’s response or at the very least, find a new writer given the batch of allegations that are now coming to light against Landis. All I know is that at the end of this movie, the last couple lines of desperate humor and a really dumb fairy spot that looked like a cheap 3D moment even though the movie wasn’t 3D, I don’t know what I watched and I’m disappointed because this movie could’ve been something special. Instead, we got a chaotic dumpster fire that I regret looking forward to. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter was better and that’s saying something.

Jason: So really this was just the Shadow Run game happening between takes on the set of Bad Boys, right? But seriously, this movie has had the most mixed of reviews. The first I heard about it after it officially released was that it was garbage. Then I started seeing super high praise. Finally, I saw reviews from friends saying that it was a good concept but not a good film. My own personal review: I think it’s a great fantasy/action flick!

The one thing that can make or break a fantasy setting is the world that is built around it. World building typically falls into one of two camps: explicit and implicit. J.R.R. Tolkien was a master of explicit world building. He gave every minute detail painful focus as he told the audience what his universe was from beneath the ground up. The best example I can think of for implicit world building is Jim Henson, specifically in regards to The Dark Crystal. The audience is dropped into the universe without any explanation. Everything that needs to be known is experienced through storytelling. Bright definitely falls into this second category. Exposition is told through graffiti and action rather than narration or some contrived history montage like so many other fantasy settings. And all of this makes it feel more real, more grounded. The movie says “There are elves, orcs, fairies, and magic living alongside street gangs and beat cops,” and we’re all like “Okay!” This whole movie feels like a chunk taken out of a larger, well-rounded whole. There are many stories to be told within this universe and we’ve only seen one so far. There is a lot to see in the background that never even gets mentioned. I’m pretty sure there was a centaur wearing riot gear standing guard in the elf part of the city. Also, there was a dragon flying around in one shot. I want to know more about these elements and how the people interact with them. There are also bigger questions that I thought of while watching. Like, if these near-human races have been a part of the world for centuries, did American history progress as it really did? What does that mean for relationships between humans? Also, there are different human languages based on region. Are there different orcish and elvish regional languages too? So, in short, I loved the in depth world that was presented here. It makes me want to see more of it. And, apparently, the sequel is already in production, so we’re gonna get it!
As for the technical aspects, this movie also has a lot to say. There are several stunning shots and the makeup and effects were fantastic. The soundtrack and score were also impressive, ranging from urban street music to sweeping orchestral fantasy numbers.
If you couldn’t tell, I enjoyed this movie. It leaves open so much potential for growth. I don’t think it will happen but I would love for the sequel to have nothing to do with these characters. Maybe it would reference the events in this story but be completely it’s own thing. Not going to happen, but it would be cool.