No idea what \'Bright\' even is but it feels like this review is one long disagreeing comment on the other review that Bright has. Which, y\'know, it\'s fine that you have a completely different opinion, but it also gets kind of smug when you start with \'Most reviews of Bright are extraordinarily dismissive. I’ll try to break down why they\'re wrong.\' and later go into detail about why you should completely ignore anyone who doesn\'t like this film if they use \'logic\' that you don\'t personally approve of.
Also, like I said, never seen \'Bright\', but sweet rainbow-coloured turkey giblets, \"Fairy Lives Don\'t Matter\" is one of the worst lines I have ever seen in my life.
I referenced other reviews (not just the one here on TVT) because Bright is getting all kinds of bad press right now, it's a very divisive movie. I don't think simply acknowledging that breaks any kind of rules. And I don't think I'm being smug, many reviews I've come across dismiss the movie out of hand without discussing its merits or anything remotely positive - and a lot of them factually misrepresent the plot, to a degree where I wonder whether they have actually seen it.
So I decided to write my own review on a website that I care about rather than post an angry comment that accomplishes nothing.
And I'm not the one referring to the users of this website as...narwhals? You obviously don't care about my opinion but that seems a bit derogatory to me.
Sapere aude.
@Elmo 3000, very mature of you to respond to what you see as a \"Long disagreeing comment\" with a disrespectful, insulting one. Why did you even feel the need to weigh in on a review for a movie you\'ve never seen?
Find the Light in the Dark
Dude, you\'re responding to a two-year old comment. Elmo made a comment about his opinion of the review, the reviewer offered a rebuttal and that was it. Everything was resolved and there was no need for you to offer a rebuttal of Elmo\'s comment. Especially when your comment is far more rude than the one you\'re responding to.
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Bright is Alright.
Most reviews of Bright are extraordinarily dismissive. I’ll try to explain why this is not the worst movie ever.
A few misconceptions first. Orcs are not simply stand-ins for African Americans like a lot of people have said – it’s a little more nuanced than that (one character casually tells us that his ancestors killed orcs by the thousands in Russia- does this remind you of anything?).
Magic is part of the premise of this world, but it is used very sparingly (a total of only three or four times in the entire movie). Likewise, the fantasy backstory is there but almost completely irrelevant to the plot. There is a prophecy mentioned a handful of times, but we don’t really learn anything about it besides that it exists. Bright is essentially a survive-the-night buddy-cop action flick, and you almost forget about the weird fantasy stuff until something interesting happens.
But I digress… after a first act which establishes the two main characters and their dynamic, they respond to a disturbance call where they find a magic wand. In the context of the story, this is a huge deal. Ward, the veteran cop, realizes the magnitude of this discovery and immediately calls for backup, not that it helps. The next hour or so follows our heroes struggling to protect the wand from gangsters, corrupt cops, and a local orc clan. Again, it makes sense in context, because in-universe a wand can literally bring people back from the dead (to emphasize, the wand even has its own siren song leitmotif). It’s solid action that also serves to showcase this version of L.A.
This eventually leads to the climatic battle with the overarching villains - evil elves who are continually built up as a serious threat throughout the chase sequences. The conclusion is a bittersweet happy ending, and might seem a little cliched, but I really thought the movie earned it by not overusing the magic or prophecy stuff.
Bright holds up during repeat viewings too – mainly due to extremely strong performances by Will Smith and Joel Edgerton. Edgerton carries the movie, I couldn’t believe it was him under all that orc makeup. Smith also gives a great performance, and this isn’t him simply playing himself, like in Focus (2015). He actually plays an interesting character, with development and growth and a nice little story arc, if you’re into that kind of thing.
My advice? If a reviewer uses the logic – David Ayer and Will Smith made Suicide Squad therefore this unrelated movie is bad – you can safely ignore them. If they use a couple of awkward lines of dialogue like “Fairy Lives Don’t Matter” or the infamous “Swipe left” to discredit the entire film, ef that noise. No script is perfect.
Overall Bright is nowhere near as bad as Suicide Squad, and it's not an unimaginative rehash of Training Day either. I thought it was entertaining and a fresh take on the genre.
P.S. I’m going to legit get angry if the sequel isn’t named Brighter.