Bright Film Review

If Bright wasn’t the next film by the director and star of Suicide Squad, the critical reception would have been much different, not to mention the negative critical stigma that revolves around a Netlfix original feature. Fact of the matter is Bright isn’t as good as it should have been, but it’s a lot of fun and is much better than most will lead you to believe.

David Ayer and Will Smith are a fine cinematic pair. Ayer utilizes Smith on screen in a way that hasn’t been done since Smith worked with Michael Mann in ALI. Ayer makes Smith look and feel like a movie star once again. He isn’t chasing Oscar with some melodramatic turn in some sappy film; he’s back dropping the f word and shooting everything in sight.

The film is a very cool and a not so familiar fantasy film that fuses itself with racial side of 2017. It’s an interesting premise, injecting orcs as the lesser of the races but it’s not as smart as it tries to play itself off as. Orcs are urban, they populate the ghettos; the picture is overtly painted. The elves are the rich elites that run everything and humans are just kind of the there. It’s fun, but it’s nothing revolutionary.

Joel Edgerton who plays the orc partner of Smith is excellent in the film. Even though his face is covered with thick prosthetics, his sensibilities surely shine through. Smith and Edgerton have this offbeat chemistry that works incredibly well and at times is rather hilarious.

Where the film suffers isn’t in Ayer or Smith, but more so in Max Landis’ script that begins to unravel in the third act. Yes, this film is a fantasy driven film with orcs and monsters and faries, but it gets way to convoluted and nonsensical in the third act. All of that said, the chemistry between Smith and Edgerton keeps this film not only on track, but also keeps it fun.

Review by Frank Mengarelli