Friday, December 29, 2017

Movie review - "Bright" (2017) **

A film that copped a lot of hate from reviewers - it's not that bad. Maybe people were annoyed at the $3.5 million price tag on the script.

It's an amiable mash up of Alien Nation and Training Day - Will Smith as a cop with an orc partner (Joel Edgerton). The action takes place over the course of one night. Smith goes from a cop worried about his pension, assuring his wife and daughter he'll be safe, to taking a lot of risks - he blows away a bunch of cops (who want him to blame something on Edgerton) then sets about a reckless course of action.

The Macguffin is a wand - this is in a world where the Orcs are the underclass, the elves are the upper class, and the humans are kind of... the same, I guess. The mythology of the world feels a bit thin - I think you can tell it wasn't based on a book. Or maybe Max Landis had it all fleshed out and didn't have time.

I felt the film got a bit sillier as it went on - more and more mythology comes in (the Dark Lord, brights, orc culture). Will Smith is suddenly a "bright" - he has super powers.

The women characters barely talk. All the other character types are very familiar. The nihilism of David Ayer movies ("there's so much corruption in the LAPD") is now starting to get tired.

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