Bright

Director: David Ayer

Cast: Will Smith, Joel Egerton, Noomi Rapace, Lucy Fry

Genre: Action, fantasy

Year: 2017

'Bright' is a Netflix original film, following two police officers, one man, one Orc, as they face a mystical enemy, possessing great unknown powers.



'Bright' is Ayer's newest film since his contribution to the DC Cinematic Universe, 'Suicide Squad' in 2016. 'Bright' is a new Netflix original film and stars Will Smith as Daryl Ward, a LA police officer who has just returned to duty after being wounded by a spontaneous shooting. He reluctantly must work with the eager Nick Jakoby (Joel Egerton), an Orc who treasures his role as a police officer, yet suffers from relentless discrimination.

Ayer manages to depict a vast and intricate world where fantasy and modern life have merged together, and he portrays the lifestyles of the various races, ranging from the overly wealthy Elves down to the underprivileged, despised Orcs. This hierarchical system is constantly reinforced throughout the film as the two cops travel between different areas of LA, displaying how life contrasts for all the different races. The Orcs are focused on the most within the film, especially considering the fact that Jakoby has his own personal conflicts within the Orcish community. However, other than this, most other cultures seem to be brushed past in the film - it is noted several times that Elves are unreasonably wealthy, but races like Fairies or Centaurs seem to merely be cameos that suggest that all kinds of fantastical beings reside in this mixed world of Tolkien and reality. This universe is impressive and an inventive idea, but the film seems to exert all its energy into illustrating this world and not enough into itself.

The acting throughout never really exceeds average, which is disappointing considering that it has two great leads being Smith and Egerton. They have both proven to be exceptional in their own respective films, let alone action films, yet, whether it is their own fault or the director's, they seem underwhelming and implausible. Any chance of them having chemistry is almost single-handedly accomplished by Egerton, or at least his character, who, despite all the hate directed towards him, tries to strengthen his friendship with Ward, whom has no time for Jakoby and sees him merely as an inconvenience and embarrassment. It is easy to sympathise for and be invested in Nick because he is a caring and humble person. But the poor performances is distracting and occasionally irritating, meaning that their connection cannot really bloom.

The plot itself is relatively unique and engaging - a mysterious group, known as Brights, are after an elusive Wand which grants limitless abilities. Many crave it, but few can control it, since it can only be exclusively wielded by Brights. Ward and Jakoby happen upon the Wand and a young Elf, Tikka (Lucy Fry), which sends them spiraling them into a terrible situation, where everybody is after the Wand and thus relentlessly hunt the two cops and Tikka.
The plot is quite weak for the most part, with underdeveloped antagonists and reasonably vague incentives from all the characters, other than the notion that the Wand gifts them their every desire. During the Second Act, which takes a while to get to anyway, the film introduces many different characters and settings, many of which are either rushed through or poorly scripted. The dialogue is unfunny and unrealistic, which isn't helped by the disappointing performances and line deliveries. The First Act dawdles on reinforcing the discrimination Orcs face, especially Jakoby and it does shine a light on the prejudice of today's society, but spends far too long on such topics. It is summed up fairly competently in the title sequence, which shows various graffiti that establishes the inequality of this world. So, having it repeatedly portrayed has the notions become stale and obnoxious, slowing down the plot quite a bit. This handicaps the rest of the film that leaves a lot of information out, making the Second and Third Act confusing and missing chunks of explanation. The main antagonist, Leilah (performed rather sadistically by Noomie Rapace), has blurred motives, obscuring her aims, other than to require the Wand.

Sadly, the plot, the writing and the acting are not the only poor qualities of this film. The action, excluding the fairly entertaining final sequence, is extremely awkward in terms of its pacing, choreography and filming. It doesn't pack any real punch and the attempted suspense more often than not, falls flat. The film favours a violent approach to the action, unafraid to show lots of blood, but it feels unrealistic and at some points, boring or even comical. The camerawork is unimaginative, and does not assist in making the action sequences feel fast paced or exciting. Instead, they seem random and uninteresting, which is almost the antithesis of what an action scene should be like.

Ultimately, despite having an impressive universe laid out and a hopeful concept that is worth some credit, the execution is poor and disappointing, with underwhelming acting, unengaging action, bad script writing, mixed tones and a confusion on what to focus on. Will Smith and Joel Egerton can and have done much better, yet this was an inadequate film that is nowhere near a proper representation of their capabilities.

Verdict: 3/10