Bright  (2017)

A Netflix Movie

I really enjoyed the last 25 minutes. The last 25 minutes was better edited, improved dialogue, some humor and focus. Unfortunately this is a one hour 57 minute movie, so this movie was not an easy view. I wonder if there was a disconnect between the writer (Max Landis), the director (David Ayers) and the production company (Netflix). This move should have been filmed as a series with 8 - 10 episodes with the possibility of multiple seasons.

This movie has a good premise. Earth (although we only see LA)  is a different world while still very much like ours being violent, dirty, chaotic and immoral with touches of kindness and empathy. The actual inhabitants are much more varied. Bright takes place in Los Angeles.This world has 3 major classes: Elves compose the highest class. Elves are the richest, most privileged and politically powerful of all populations. Humans are the middle class living in decaying suburbs/urban areas. The Orcs are the lowest class. They are thought of as worthless brutes with no intelligence. The Orcs supported the wrong side in a revolution almost 2,000 years ago and are still being punished by society. This "wrong side" was lead by the Dark Lord.  Brights (usually Elves) are rare, even in the Elf community. These individuals can control magic wands capable of granting its user any wish. Currently there is an aberrant group of Elves, who called themselves Inferni. This splinter group wish to bring back the Dark Lord, kill all humanity and Orcs making this an all-magic Earth.

While there was great world building, the first 2/3 of the movie was constant unrelenting violence, frequent swearing and a wand that moved around more than at a relay race competition during the Olympics. While boring is probably not an applicable term, this repetition develops a story which is routine and expected. It makes the viewer become disengaged and impatient. Will Smith and Joel Edgerton are the two leads. Will Smith is the human cop and his Orc partner played by Joel Edgerton is new to the police force, both in his experience and his species. They were the only ones that encouraged me to keep watching. There was a major plot point that I guessed way in the beginning of this film, but that did not prevent me from enjoying that last 20 - 25 minutes.

I am a fan of science fiction and fantasy movies, so perhaps I was pre-sold. I would recommend this film, but with warning that one has to sit through a lot of repeated violence before being presented with an interesting movie with entertaining dialogue.
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It was work to get through the first 2/3. It was like a boring (pun intended) game with every move resulting in vivid, unrelenting violence. However, I felt that in the last 20 or so minutes everything seemed to work, the characters' interaction, dialogue, editing, plotting with even the welcome edition of some ironic humor. I agree with this review (Stoned Gremlin Productions - Midnight Screenings published 12/28/2017), this film should have been a 10-12 episode series with the possibility of a season 2.

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Bright, for the first 2/3, was a chore to watch. The brutal violence almost became boring with each repetition. However, in the last 25 minutes or so the characters, dialogue, insertion of some humor and even the editing seemed to work. My guess is that this was pitched as a 6+ episode series. For whatever reason the movie format was chosen, resulting in one huge mistake.