Bright – An idea better than the film

Sometimes a film comes along with a premise that sounds so good that you couldn’t see failing.  However, when it comes to being executed on screen, it doesn’t live up to what it could have been. ‘Bright’ has been getting a lot of hate from the critics, some even calling it ‘the worst film of 2017.’ Personally, I didn’t think it was that bad – just could have been better.

Apparently, in ‘Bright’s’ world, elves, orcs, fairies and other supernatural beings have existed alongside us humans throughout the ages.  Now, we’re in modern day L.A. and we see the results.  Now, off the bat, if these types of creatures had lived among us all through our history, our cities would be radically different.  They’re not.  It’s basically L.A. with a few different races roaming around and occasionally have their own ‘districts.’ And that’s an example of how a film like this probably should have been done differently.  You had an interesting idea and wasted it.

But, like I say, it’s not as bad as some are making it out to be.  It’s effectively a ‘buddy cop’ film where Will Smith (human) is paired with the first ever orc cop (Joel Edgerton).  So, we have our typical ‘mismatched cop’ duo who bicker constantly all the way through it.  Soon they come across an elven maiden with a wand which the bad elves are also after.

So, again what could have been a vaguely interesting set-up turns into a series of action set-pieces where one group of bad guys attacks our trio after the next until the obvious end battle.  First the humans attack.  Then the orcs.  Then the elves.  Then it’s over.  Again, nothing wrong with that, it’s just with an idea like this it should have been able to have been stretched into more original territory.

However, it has Will Smith at the helm and, just because he’s on Netflix, don’t think he’s any the less charming.  He holds it together and the action is fast-paced and fun.  There’s quite a lot of swearing, so it’s not a family movie, but, if you’re looking for something action-packed (only!) to watch, stick this on your ‘watch list’ and, as long as you’re not expecting too much, it’ll keep you entertained for a couple of hours.  Oh, yes, it’s a couple of hours long.  It probably could have been an hour and a half and been all the better for it.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that