Streaming on Netflix
Every one of us has a film in our collective memory that we initially thought was good, only to revisit after a few years and realize just how wrong you were. Bright may not have been the worst film of 2017 (that distinction remains with Alien: Covenant), but it certainly wasn't the best film to close the year on. While there are still elements of the film I continue to enjoy, appreciate, and admire, the sad fact is that this is a terrible film. Trying to create a more "mature" version of what was already delivered near-perfectly by, of all studios, Disney. More on that in a moment.
The best way to describe this movie, in a nutshell, is Training Day as written by J.R.R. Tolkien...on cocaine. For those unaware, the story takes place in an alternate world where fairytale creatures such as elves, wizards, and orcs live in the same world as humans. Our heroes, a human cop named Ward (Will Smith) and an orc cop named Jacoby (Joel Edgerton), are patrolling the streets of Los Angeles when they stumble upon something thought to be lost forever, a magic wand. Tension grows between our heroes as most humans have a severe distrust of orcs, believing them to be the race responsible for many problems in the world. Not helped by most of them being gangsters and affiliating themselves with an ominous figure known as "The Dark Lord."
Anyway, with both cops possessing a heart of gold, they find themselves in the middle of a street war between many parties who want the magic wand for themselves. Now, Ward and Jacoby must fight their way through the city to deliver the magic wand to the rightful authorities and, in the process, save the city from destruction.
This sounds like a fantastic idea with tons of potential on the surface. I was blown away by the fantastic combination of gritty police drama with high fantasy elements when I first watched it. I wanted so much to feel like this was the best step forward towards doing more insane ideas like this, and I sincerely appreciated the filmmakers for attempting it in the first place.
Then, I revisited the movie and was reminded of how my desire for what I wanted wholly overshadowed what we got. Bright is, in actuality, a perfect example of what happens when the wrong people are hired for a project like this.
I did not make the comparison to Training Day lightly. David Ayer, the original writer for Training Day and the director of Bright, specializes in gritty, dark, uber-masculine stories that are so aggressively hard-boiled as to make Rob Liefield blush. David Ayer has a specific voice that lends itself well to the kind of stories he prefers to tell but is so aggressively committed to that style that he doesn't seem to know how to stretch or step out of his comfort zone for anything else. As evidenced by his failed attempt at making a "mature" comic book movie with Suicide Squad.
In the case of Bright, David Ayer feels out of place. While it is still, at its core, a buddy cop story, its fantastical elements feel as though it should call for a director who can better balance gritty police drama with the inherited whimsy found in fairy tale creatures. I'm not saying it needed more rainbows, just that it needed to embrace the silliness a bit more.
To be fair, David Ayer isn't wholly to blame for the film's lack of balance. As history has proven time and time again, a movie lives and dies by the script. No matter how well performed, artfully directed, or masterfully rendered the special effects are in a film, if the script is lousy, it'll drag the rest of the movie down with it.
The script for Bright was penned by Max Landis, son of the late John Landis, director of such classics as The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London. Max Landis is one of those Hollywood talents that's easier to appreciate than enjoy. His overall writing philosophy of treating structure as a guideline rather than a hard & fast rule is straightforward enough to appreciate. While some of his works are genuinely entertaining, like American Ultra, there are times when his writing needs much more polish before it can be production-ready, like Shadow in the Cloud.
However, the problem with Bright is that its aversion to specific structural elements, along with too many moments of repetitiveness, makes the story less satisfying or engaging as it should be. Too many times, the script abandons structurally sound reasoning in favor of deus-ex machina and repetitive action movie cliches. The most noticeable is how often we hear the characters cry, "I'm out of ammo." A common and realistic conflict with gun-oriented action, but even so, it doesn't need to be repeated at nausea.
But the biggest problem with Bright, as it pertains to the script, is how it tries too hard to be a "mature" fantastical exploration and commentary on racism and societal tension between police and civilians. As I alluded to before, this concept had already been masterfully explored and commentated on by, of all studios, Disney, with their successful and genuinely spectacular animated feature, Zootopia.
Zootopia is one of those rare films that, while primarily intended for younger audiences, is executed with the proper amount of respect, maturity, and intellectual prowess to render it universal enough to be enjoyed and appreciated by children and adults alike. Its exploration of race relations, bias, and cultural stigma rival that of most live-action fairs that have tried and failed to achieve the same goal.
*cough* Crash *cough*
With Zootopia releasing in 2016 and Bright releasing the following year, it's too easy to make the comparison. Both are ostensively buddy cop stories exploring themes like racism and societal expectations. Still, one has a more satisfying narrative leaving the viewer with a more profound and lasting impact. Best of all, no faux maturity elements like excessive cursing or copious amounts of gun violence. Not that there's anything wrong with those, just that, like anything else, they can lose their impact when used too often.
Even though I've been discussing what doesn't work about the movie Bright, elements within the film are worth praising. The predominantly night-time cinematography is gorgeous and well-executed, and some of the dialogue did make me chuckle once in a while. Will Smith and Joel Edgerton have remarkable chemistry and deliver genuinely great performances. Edgerton especially has the grading task of performing with many layers of prosthetic make-up. Plus, the special effects are genuinely fantastical.
Sadly, all of that is not enough goodness to overlook the overall terrible mess of a film that is Bright. Its director doesn't know how to play with the more fantastical elements. Its writer doesn't know when a proper structure is needed most. Its overall themes of racism and police relations have already been explored and commented on in better films.
Netflix is apparently still trying to get Bright 2 out of production hell as of this writing. To which I must respectfully protest. If there is any sequel or continuation of original content they ought to focus on, it should be Warrior Nun, if not Love, Death, & Robots.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.
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