Wtf? Wtf!? And I say again, with feeling, what the f***? After the phenomenal build up of Suicide Squad, with its memorable marketing, notable casting, and questionable re-editing after test audiences found it too dark, David Ayer took a beating when it was critically panned and underwhelmed fans. Looking back now, its actually great compared to Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. Granted everything in Suicide Squad was a gamble and one that paid out big in ticket sales, but it cooled the waters for any DC film entries to come. This isn’t exactly the reputation any director needs, though a return on the dollar is tantamount, if it hurts the overall brand, it hurts your resume. But, Netflix loves to gamble and they gambled big, putting 90 million dollars into Ayer’s hands, the biggest budget Netflix has given anything, all in an effort to prove that not all blockbusters need the theatrical big screen. Ayer now had a chance behind the camera to redeem his brand and deliver something brilliant, something Bright. And now it’s time to call, the cards are on the table, and Ayer lays down an unexpected, WTF Royal Flush.

A mixture of Ayer’s End of Watch style and Suicide Squad special effects, Bright is a modern day fantasy. A fever dream where J.R.R. Tolkien’s cast of races and creatures mingle in hoodies, underground clubs, high rises, run gangs or corporations, all under the American flag, which rose as inexplicably as a world where the film Shrek and real, live Orcs co-exist. The story follows two police officers, one human, one orc, answering a call in which they find one of 3 magic wands in the world, of which are to be considered as powerful as nuclear weapons. From there, everything goes wrong as crooked cops, gangs, the illuminati, and the federal government all want to get their hands on it. In this world, instead of the legend of Jesus Christ and his birth 2,000 years prior, the earth celebrates the day we defeated the Dark Lord. The real American 2017 is marred with racial tensions and societal discord and as such is mirrored in Bright, Orcs being seen as the lowest of races due to their siding with the Dark Lord in the battle 2,000 years prior. They are dressed and displayed as pretty much any poor or lower social group, dressing and acting like inner city Hispanics or Blacks from the 1990’s. Elves are seen as rich, upper-class Whites, but not treated as wise like they would have been traditionally. Humans on the whole are pretty much the same, the most plentiful, weakest, and for some reason in control of most government positions. And here lies the crux of the Bright universe, if you think too much, following the lines drawn for you by the film, you end up making associations and assumptions that have nothing to do with its story, which is maddening and frustrating, so do yourself a favor and don’t think about it. It ultimately doesn’t lead anywhere and the film will never spell out anymore than necessary.

Now that you have put that out of your mind, lets talk about our actors. This is the first time I have loved a performance by Will Smith since the original Men In Black in 1997, and that was 20 years ago. Thats a long time not to like Big Willie. His portrayal as Officer Daryl Ward is frank and resonates with the current climate. There isn’t a single point where Smith drops the act to become his boisterous comic or cocky popularized persona. Joel Edgerton plays Officer Nick Jakoby, the first Orc in American history to join the Police Force. A callback to early racial tensions in America, all eyes are on him and not even his partner Ward wants to ride with him. Behind all the makeup, Edgerton is able to deliver one of my favorite fresh-faced cop characters in recent memory. Somewhere between nervous trainee and eager confidant, you can really connect with Nick as he tries to walk the line between his nuanced Orc heritage and his personal quest to be the perfect example of a police officer. This is probably where the film does its best work, while similar to Buddy Cop films like Lethal Weapon, it has a built-in analogy that allows for the racial tensions to run wild without the use of real world slurs and issues. Its dramatic and cheesy, but it isn’t misplaced or awful. You might find that you have to relax a little and allow it to wash over you without laughing at it. Its uncomfortable because it both rings true and yet hollow. It substitutes real racial relations for goofy, incomplete Human/Orc issues that exist between half-baked or exaggerated depending on your point of view. Either way, Smith and Edgerton might not go down as being the best buddy cops, but they have an entertaining chemistry.

While this film has spectacular special effects, some amazing action set pieces, it has a real issue tying them together. All too often I was confused how they got from point A to B or how they were found or followed, other forces motivations, and in general some of the character choices.

Lucy Fry, for example, plays a short hand Fifth Element Leeloo named Tikka, from the mannerisms down to the clothes. She is supposed to be an Elf with the power to use a wand only special people can use, the titular Brights, which are loosely defined as wand bearers. Tikka is trying to escape Leilah (Noomi Rapace), another Elf Bright to whom the wand belongs. Leilah is played more like a Buffy villain in Matrix clothes. Neither of them add up to much and are often thrown aside to follow the officers. Another major issue is how the film lays out the history of the world. It’s spouted out sparsely in between conversations with all sorts of different characters, sometimes important to the main story, other times just background information of the world at large. This is why I advise you not to think about it. It will answer some of your questions for you, but mostly it leaves it all up in the air. I think this is considered fun by some, but most I think will find it frustrating. Ayer put more time into making each scene look outrageous instead of spending time world building. The world is just a backdrop or an excuse to use guns and magic, and have orcs and elves.

To sum up, I personally enjoyed watching this movie. And I know there is so much content here to rip up and bite into, but I can’t help but look past some of it, despite its mismanagement. I would argue that while its mired in world building issues, its eclipsed by how good it looks and how well its shot. Ayer knows how to film gun fights, car chases, and create an atmosphere of tension despite how incomprehensible the world appears. I could go on forever about how poorly some of the analogies and metaphors in Bright hold up, but I think it would all be at the detriment to the overall experience. It would have been great if the world was completely in view the first time through. It has a rich universe, but to focus on that would be to walk away from the story they ended up telling, which was as entertaining as it was violent. There is both literally and figuratively a lot written on the walls to help you decipher the world on a second view. Ayer delivered the full-on, rated R, modern fantasy/action hybrid no one was asking for, and I think it was a gamble well played.

~* 7.5/10 *~