With a budget of 90 million dollars, Bright is the most expensive Netflix film ever made. Unfortunately for the entertainment company, the David Ayer fantasy/action drama doesn’t quite justify the investment, though one can see what attracted them to the project.

On paper, Bright is an interesting concept. The film takes place in an alternative version of our world where fantasy creatures such as orcs, elves and fairies co-exist with human beings on shaky ground. It meshes elements of mythical lore with real-world issues such as racial tensions in a buddy-cop drama where the heroes fight the magic-wielding villains with shotguns and pistols. It’s the sort of premise often examined in video games and books but rarely in TV shows or film, and one can appreciate why.

When it comes to books and video games, the reader’s or player’s imagination often helps fill in the blanks and ground the story. But film is a less-forgiving medium. While one’s imagination can help overlook far-fetched storytelling in a book or poor graphics in a game, it’s not as easy to get past hammy acting or silly dialogue in a film.

Bright doesn’t have what it takes to pull off its risky story

Sadly, Bright doesn’t have what it takes to pull off its risky story. To start with, the script by screenwriter Max Landis lacks the nuance for the deep social commentary Bright attempts to convey.

When the film begins we are introduced to human cop Daryl Ward (Will Smith) and his partner, the first orc cop, Nick Jakoby (Joel Edgerton). We learn that this is a society dominated by humans where creatures such as fairies and orcs are treated as second-class citizens. The orcs are stigmatised for their lower intellect and for siding with evil in a great war from thousands of years ago. Every cop on the force hates Nick, including Daryl, to the point where some want to kill him when he screws up. In fact, the only reason Nick is employed as a cop is to satisfy diversity laws.

In the hands of another filmmaker, these parallels with the real world could have been highly effective, but in Bright they come across as ham-fisted and awkward because of the less-than-subtle script. Dampening Bright further is its reliance on over a dozen tired cop movie clichés. Rolling my eyes at these bits, I wondered what the point was of shooting an unusual film when you were going to package it in the form of cop drama audiences have been seeing for decades.

Meanwhile, the main story about a group of renegade elves called the Inferni, led by Leilah (Noomi Rapace), who seek to resurrect their dark lord through a magic wand, doesn’t quite click either, especially as it relies on the ‘powerful object’ cliche from the fantasy genre.

In the hands of another filmmaker, these parallels with the real world could have been highly effective, but in Bright they come across as ham-fisted and awkward because of the less-than-subtle script.

This isn’t to say that Bright is all bad. The performances of Smith and Edgerton are convincing and the duo certainly has some chemistry. What’s more, the characterisation of Edgerton as an orc who simply wants to be accepted in human society, and some of the film’s more unique fantastical elements, are fun to watch. In the end though, it’s too bad that Bright didn’t have the confidence to run with what made it different without using tried and tested as a crutch.

Published in Dawn, ICON, December 31st, 2017