Review of Bright (2017) by Danny P — 30 Dec 2017

Let's start with what drew me into this movie in the first place. The premise of this movie is fascinating, and the production design is incredible. The different races are woven believably into 21st century America, and the idea of exploring this world is really exciting. The premise of bringing an Ork (a lower caste race) onto the police force is ripe for a great film.

But it seems like the idea for the world & premise came first to the creators, and then they didn't quite know what to do with it. The plot is a sloppy mash of generic fantasy and cop movie tropes. The story is told through Will Smith's eyes, which was a big mistake. He's not that interesting and I never felt connected to his character. Nick, the Ork, is the story most rich for exploration - a character caught between two cultures, through whom we could've learned about the Ork way of life in modern America. Instead, we simply get Will Smith being Will Smith, and all of the dramatic beats they try to hit never feel quite earned because we're too busy hopping from action set piece to action set piece.

They tried to do too much and please too many people.