Is Netflix's 'Bright' Any Good? Here's What The Reviews Say
Netflix has had a good year for original films — "Okja" and "Mudbound" both impressed critics — but Netflix wants more than just small-budget prestige films. They want blockbusters. That's why Netflix produced "Bright," written by Max Landis and directed by David Ayer ("Suicide Squad"). With Will Smith and Joel Edgerton ("The Gift") starring as Ward and Jakoby, a human-and-orc cop duo, is "Bright" entertaining enough to stream (it drops today)? Here's what the reviews say:
'Bright' Is Set In An LA With Fairies, Orcs And Elves — Oh My!
Imagine an alternate version of our own reality in which humans and mythological creatures had always lived alongside each other. Presumably, that world would be rather different, in physical form and daily behavior, from the one we know. But as Landis' screenplay imagines things, this fantasy L.A. is nearly identical to ours except in two ways: Graffiti has orcs and elves in it, and downtown sports some Dubai-like architecture, thanks to the ultra-rich denizens of the "Elvin Special District," who spend their days "just runnin' the world and shopping."
The bulk of the film has to do with a magic wand the partners stumble across, right as they've become the targets of multiple assassination plots — from within the department and without. While fending off everyone who wants them dead, Ward and Jakoby find themselves in the middle of an ancient conflict involving dark elves (such as Leilah, played by Noomi Rapace), "bright" elves (such as Tikka, played by Lucy Fry), and an order of human warriors who've been waiting for generations to step in once the truce between faerie folk and mankind collapses.
The Obvious Racial Allegory And Fantasy Set-Up Both End Up Nonsensical
You see exactly the points Landis is trying to make. But over the course of Bright's runtime it becomes uncomfortably clear that by using orcs as a surrogate for oppressed minorities you end up erasing actual oppressed minorities from the story. It quickly transitions from "Oh, I see what you're doing" to "Maybe you should not have done this."
[Collider]
As if the film's racial dynamics aren't flimsy enough — don't ask how black people fit into a story that problematically recodes them as a violent breed of orcs who are responsible for their own subjugation, because screenwriter Max Landis never did — its fantasy mythology is even less coherent. Guillermo del Toro puts more thought into a single one of his creatures than Landis and Ayer manage to spread across the entirety of this interminable "Funny or Die" sketch, as every attempt at world-building is so feeble that it start feels like the film is making fun of its own thoughtlessness.
The Story Is Loud But Has Nothing To Say
After a while, it becomes clear that Landis' impulse for slaughter and Ayers' impulse to display the loudest possible form of filmmaking at all times is a match tailor made for obnoxious storytelling.
[Collider]
It's possible that this screenplay holds a record for the number of times people tell each other to "shut up," but if not, those words are spat out often enough that it's hard not to guffaw when they pop up at a moment that should be dramatic.
The only thing more predictable than this high-concept police story is the idea that a year as punishing as 2017 would save the worst for last. At least "The Emoji Movie" owned up to the fact that it was just putting shit on screen; at least "The Emoji Movie" had the courtesy to dress it up in a bowtie.
Will Smith Can't Carry This Movie On Charm Alone
Even Will Smith's irrepressible charisma can't compete with the unrelentingly muddy production design, the poorly-conceived characters and a profoundly stupid racial metaphor that somehow amplifies stereotypes of actual ethnic groups.
[TheWrap]
Smith tries and fails to coast by with a smirk and a wink, harking back to his crowd-pleasing "Men in Black" and "Independence Day" characters.
Edgerton Only Fairs Slightly Better Than Smith
The true bright spot is Edgerton's performance as the orc cop Jakoby. While he's hopelessly clueless when it comes to reading a room and realizing how despised he is, a youthful sense of hope and innocence about the character breaks through, which is even more impressive, given Edgerton's layers of prosthetic makeup.
Edgerton, buried under some combination of prosthetics and CGI, struggles to convey his character's humorless, earnest intentions — appearing naïve or hopelessly inexperienced instead.
[TheWrap]
'Bright' *Also* Lacks Visual Competency And Good Lighting
It is a dreadful bore as a narrative and, even more aggravating, a visual non-event. How do you screw up a fight scene with elves at a neon-lit strip club—or the sort of chase sequences so exhilaratingly shot in films like Good Time, made with a fraction of Bright's budget?
Ayer's dim and sloppy action set-pieces look wildly out of place on a movie screen (they're so bland you almost expect Iron Fist to show up), and the constipated dialogue scenes that surround them tend to repeat the same points ad nauseam, as though they were written to accommodate a teenage kid who's multi-tasking between the movie he's watching in one window and the porn he's streaming in another.
The Future Of Big Budget Netflix Movies Unfortunately Looks Way Too 'Bright'
The film itself incorporates enough different genre elements that it should have a little something for everyone. (The company is already taking advantage of the film's variety of genres through a customized, algorithm-driven marketing campaign.) But the calculation and strategy may be more interesting than the movie itself.
If this gambit pays off — if Netflix fortifies their assault on the theatrical experience by internally developing blockbuster-sized movies that are even semi-consciously optimized for disinterested audiences — then it's hard to imagine how dark the future of feature-length filmmaking might be. Here's one indication: Shortly before the embargo on "Bright" reviews was lifted, Netflix announced that a sequel to "Bright" is already in the works.
TL;DR
Bright undeniably proves that Netflix is capable of churning out the same kind of high-concept, tentpole movies that modern Hollywood is built upon. The downside: it also proves Netflix isn't immune from Hollywood blockbuster problems.
Watch The Trailer
