Film Review: "Bright" (2017).

From the director of Suicide Squad and End of Watch, and Netflix comes Bright. This urban fantasy crime film directed by David Ayer and written by Max Landis. In an LA rife with interspecies tensions, a human cop and his orc partner stumble on a powerful object and become embroiled in a prophesied turf war.

The film was first revealed during a live recording of Kumail Nanjiani's video game podcast The Indoor Kids while Landis promoted American Ultra (2015). Landis described the film as "a contemporary cop thriller, but with fantastical elements", as well as being his Star Wars (1977). The script was then  auctioned for acquisition where PalmStar Media, Warner Bros. and MGM all made offers. Ultimately, Netflix emerged as the highest bidder. Landis stated that he sold the script, for one million dollars less, to Netflix on the condition that Ayer would direct. Landis even compared the movie to Ayer's End of Watch (2012). Ultimately, Netflix agreed and Landis sold the script for three-million-five-hundred-thousand dollars. Netflix officially announced the film with a ninety million dollar deal (making it the most expensive Netflix film at that time) with Ayer in the director's chair, Will Smith and Joel Edgerton in the lead roles, and with filming expected to begin in September 2016. In May 2016, Noomi Rapace entered talks to join the cast. In mid October, Lucy Fry was added to the cast. In early November, Édgar Ramírez and Ike Barinholtz were confirmed to be added to the cast. Principal photography officially began in November 2016 and wrapped in early February 2017.

The film stars Smith, Edgerton, Rapace, Fry, Ramírez, and Barinholtz. The cast gave terrific performances. Smith and Edgerton so completely reinvent themselves in-character. Instead of wearing the roles like costumes or uniforms, they let the job seep into their skin. As good as Edgerton is in this, Smith, as always, nearly steals the show. Ayer and his cast appear to have so convincingly nailed the way these characters talk and act that you might not even notice the film slipping from workaday grit into out-and-out myth.

Bright has the energy, devotion to characters, and charismatic performances to overcome the familiar pitfalls of its genre and handheld format. It's one of the best police movies in recent years, a virtuoso fusion of performances and often startling action. It's satisfying and thematically potent. It's a good, gritty drama of the sort that seems increasingly rare within the action genre. As expected, Ayer brings his trademark grit and authenticity. The fantasy element borders on the ludicrous as the tactic fatally substitutes photo realism for fauxto realism. Though the fantasy element is inconsistent, it's used to deepen its main characters and lends the film a lively intimacy. Almost all of the crimes were committed by non-humans as just as crimes in other films are committed by black and mainly brown people. Though it's a collection of cop-movie clichés, it's presented with sufficient flair and strong performances that the ride is enough, even if it's on rails.

Simon says Bright receives:

Also, see my review for Suicide Squad.