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Netflix’s Bright-Review

Bright is social satire with a fantasy twist. The city of Los Angeles, and we can assume the world, is a place where Orcs, Elves, and Dwarves have always been a part of life. Sounds good to me! Imagine the Lord of The Rings in our reality and you’ve got Bright.

The story is about an aging cop Daryl Ward, Will Smith, who is partnered with the first Orc police officer in L.A.P.D. history Nick Jakoby, Joel Edgerton. Jakoby is an outcast from the other Orcs. Orcs are a clan based society with their own set of laws and social structure. Orcs are seen as the lowest race of all the races because of their choice to back a dark wizard who tried to take over the world 2000 years ago. Elves are the highest race in society and control most of the wealth and positions of power.
Daryl is a good cop with a wife and daughter, bills to pay, and a pension 5 years away. At the start of Bright, Daryl is shot in the line of duty by an Orc. It’s his first day back on the job since the incident which he blames on his Orc partner who was getting them burritos at the time. Daryl forgives Jakoby, even though the shooter got away, and wants to move on but the other human cops on the force don’t trust thier Orc colleague. They think that Jakoby chose clan blood over the blue blood. Internal affairs wants Ward to get Jakoby to admit that he let the Orc suspect get away. In this land of fantasy magic also exists. Wands are as rare as the Brights who can control them. If a non-bright touches a wand, it’s instant death for them and anyone around them. Most brights are elves but 1 in a million is a human. A secret society, The Shield of Light, warns that a prophecy is upon them. Another Evil secret society named the Inferni, are searching for 3 Wands in order to raise the Dark Lord again. Ward and Jakoby respond to an incident where they run into an elf who has stolen a wand from an Inferni and needs their help to survive.

The story takes a social look into the evil in man’s heart and the corruption within today’s Police force. Some scenes of Police brutality hit a little too close to home with today’s current social situation. Bright mirrored the racial hatred that’s consuming our own culture.

Growing up in LA I really enjoyed the art direction in Bright. The city streets are covered in graph art (graffiti) that seemed as organic as what you find in Downtown LA. It helps lend to a complete history of the world that exists in Bright. The movie shows a lot of that history but doesn’t always come back to answer those questions or explain why certain things are the way they are. Maybe it was filmed but was cut due to time constraints. I did find myself wondering about certain points in the film and if the creators would come back to close those loop holes, no they didn’t.
The Action and fight scene were well choreographed and filmed. There are a lot of shoot outs and hand to hand fights and some original moves that were well executed. The Inferni were impressive to watch and were exactly how you would expect Legolas to be if it were 2017. Check out the feature video!

The make up on both the Orcs and the Elves was splendid. The Orcs are completely natural looking despite their un-human appearance. Their tusks being a visual sign of their social status. The elves were beautiful, blue eyed, and pointy eared with incredible fashion sense.

Overall the movie was pretty predictable when it came to the plot. With the name of the movie being “Bright” and the fact that they revealed in dialogue that only 1 in a million humans are brights and Will Smith is the star left the ending flat. Despite the obvious plot points Bright was entertaining and fun. A unique look at an alternate universe genre that’s never been explored in modern times. The lore that Bright referenced left a lot of questions, but despite that, it’s still a cohesive movie. I recommend it if you are a Will Smith or fantasy genre fan.