User Reviews

Otherworldly and full of action which is why Will Smith took the part. Joel Edgerton is barely recognizable and the story is sort of predictable but it doesn't take away from the presentation. This is Street Kings for Will Smith. Noomi was a cool villain even though there is more than one. The gentrification was a nice touch since there is magic and sorcery involved it makes sense that there would be different classes of people/species and that it would be very prevalent. The action was relentless and bloody and Smith was a little more level headed and not as over the top as he is in Bad Boys or MIB. It seemed darker than his usual movies which is a good move on his part. Overall I enjoyed this and since a sequel has been announced, I guess I wasn't the only one. Solid action movie and recommend.

I went into this with an open mind, I didn't know what it was about. But I was pleasantly surprised. The acting is good, the plot is straightforward, and the action is well done. The cinematography and make-up are really well done. I quite enjoyed the pairing of Smith and Edgerton. Really well done.

In Los Angeles, humans live with orcs and elves in a world where fantasy creatures do exist. LAPD police officer Dayl Ward (Will Smith) is the first human cop having the orc police officer Nick Jakoby (Joel Edgerton) as partner. When Ward is shot by an orc and Jakoby does not capture the shooter, he questions whether Jakoby lets the fellow orc escape. During a patrol, Ward and Jakoby arrest a man that tells that there is a prophecy and Ward is blessed. Meanwhile, Internal Affairs press Ward to find the truth about the escape of the shooter so that they can fire Jakoby. The magic department of the FBI interrogates the man that belongs to the terrorist Shield of Light group and they learn that they are preparing the return of the Dark Lord that will destroy the world. Ward and Jakoby are summoned to attend a disturbance and they stumble upon a Shield of Light safehouse where they arrest the elf Tikka (Lucy Fry) and her magic wand. Soon they learn that Tikka is hunted down by the evil and powerful elf Leilah (Noomi Rapace) and her gang and they need to protect Tikka and the wand; otherwise the world will be destroyed. What will they do?

"Bright" is an action film that looks like a pilot of a TV series. The screenplay begins too rushed in a world of orcs and elves living with humans without explanation. But as soon as the viewer understands the big picture of this fascinating Los Angeles and the character motives, the film becomes very attractive with great potential of a sequel (or a series). My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Bright"

To everyone who had not seen this show yet you don't know what you have missed!!!! This review is for everyone who has already seen this movie!!! If you have already watched this movie on Netflix you have to watch it again!!! It is totally different!!! Well same movie but they have changed all kinds of scenes!!!! All the little side dialogue scenes have completely different dialogue from the regional showing of this movie on Netflix !!! It's like a completely alternate telling of the same story but with more detail of the telling of the story ! If you've watched this movie already watch it again!!! It's like watching it for the first time they made it totally redone and more enjoyable and completely open to a sequel! I would be truly disappointed if there is never a sequel to the show !!!!!

So Bright was met with highly mixed reviews and I can entirely see why.

Bright tells a story in a world full of multiple races, man stands alongside orcs, elves and if you pay attention you can see others. Focusing on two police officers and a plot involving a magic wand and the chaos it brings.

The cast are great, though Joel Edgerton is unrecognisable in his orc makeup and until afterwards I didn't know that was Noomi Rapace either!

The effects are great both practical and cgi, the soundtrack is solid and the movie ticks most boxes. The box it most adamantly ticks is the one for originality, it's a fantastic concept and I question whether it would have made more sense to do this as a television series instead.

Sadly it's alarmingly flawed, the story they chose was really quite generic, it felt very rushed in places and absolutely nothing about this world and its history was explained which I find to be a bad call.

Bright had unlimited potential but only came out as a slightly above average quality movie. My hope is that it becomes a franchise, whether a sequel or a series this is one of those concepts that should be grabbed with both hands because it reeks of money.

Very nice try but should have been better.

The Good:

Great social commentary

Impressive visuals

A lot of potential

The Bad:

Story was a tad cliched

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

If you play stupid games you win stupid prizes

Triangle formation on public roads makes perfect sense

Hi everyone , this is my first review on IMDb ever , so I will keep it to the point.

I saw a lot of negative reviews for this film but I decided to ignore them and watch it and decide for my self , I actually really enjoyed it , loved the idea, mixing fantasy with our modern age, if you enjoy films and want something original , fantasy , drama , action and comedy then watch this film.

In a present day world of orcs, fairies, elves and humans a new form of bigotry exists in which orcs are the object of all kinds of discrimination while elves enjoy exclusivity--as in they have all the exclusive stuff. I wouldn't call it racism towards the orcs because that would imply that orcs are a race when in fact they are an entirely different species (I doubt a human and and orc can procreated together (ugh!)). In any case, Officer Daryl Ward (Will Smith) is the unfortunate recipient of an orc partner, Nick Jakoby (Joel Edgerton), on a force in which no other orcs exist nor are they welcome. The two of them have to work together to overcome the bitterness between each other as well as the vitriol that comes from others on the force. They also have to figure out how to protect the world from a dangerous magic wand.

My problem with the movie is the incredible lack of back story. There is some exposition throughout the movie but it is woefully lacking. This isn't the future, this is the present and there are orcs and elves everywhere. Why? And even their mission is a bit nebulous. They have to save a magic wand from getting into the wrong hands. There are so many questions I have from just that alone.

The action was OK and visually the movie was nice as well, it was just underdeveloped as a story and Daryl Ward and Nick Jakoby were underdeveloped as characters.

This seems to have divided opinion. Is that the mark of a good movie or a terrible one?

You can look at it two ways - as a fantasy cop-buddy movie, and/or as a racial/social allegory. The allegory is laid on with a trowel. You don't need your subtlety glasses and if you ever thought allegory was too subtle for you, this will absolutely prove you wrong.

The fantasy aspect is a little strange. An interesting premise but given the scenario, how come we end up with a world exactly like ours? So dedicated fantasy fans are off to a poor start. Much, much suspension of disbelief required.

As for cliches - they must have scoured the internet to see how many they could squeeze into one movie!

Having said all that, if you can accept all those cliches and shortcomings and just go with the flow, it won't be the worst movie you ever see. Probably.

But it definitely won't be in your Top Ten.

I twist on buddy cop movie. Will Smith and the Orc play off each other perfectly. I could see this is how it would be if Middle Earth got pushed into our present day. The acting is good and the make up is excellent. Ok I loved the Orc and laughed at his one liners..If you want to watch something different then this is the movie for you. I liked it a lot.

Lots of potential but the execution just got out of control. The dialogue could have been a lot more crisp but instead it was diluted by letting the characters riff out. The mood was uneven not able to balance wise cracks and action. It had the big budget bang but this could have been so much better with more incisive writing and mor streamlined direction. I give this film a 6 (fair) out of 10. {Fantasy Action}

Far from perfect. Actually, it's just OK. Bright (2017) left me with that "superhero" movie taste. It sure seems like one.

No real plot development. Everything is explained fast and as soon as it shows up. "Oh, there's THIS! THIS is something-something! Oh, damn, bad guys, shoot! Oh, wow, a WHATEVER! This is from a far away time and blah blah blah! Oh, damn, bad guys again, run!" and it's that until the end.

Not that it's bad and all that. It's just passable. It's just OK. Surely not a recommendation in a friends group.

This is a horribly interesting thing. I found Bright to be pretty damn enjoyable. It's a kind of run all night movie where the characters go against everyone and rightfully so with how the movie sets up the stage and the world it is set in. I find this movie deserves a 8/10 but will give a 10/10 because of the weird hate revolving around it. What was bad? The acting was great. The story was great. The characters great. Also being able to make a world with different rules and make the characters so relateable was amazing. The stage the music the mostly everything was great about this film. So how was it so bad? There is a very strange hate for this film and we should all take notice that Netflix is doing something to piss Hollywood off. Maybe making original stories and not another Jason Bourne/Transformers/Pos movie is what makes critics angry these days. 29 from Metacritic? There is more to the story here.

Bottom line if you want a fun action filled movie with great setting, atmosphere and characters then give this a watch.

Bright has a central idea rife with potential and whilst it definitely doesn't live up to that idea it remains fun and hilariously misguided. The central class conflict has an astonishing lack of subtlety but it only adds to how funny the whole thing is, intentional or not (definitely mostly unintentional).

This film is so incredibly lucky to have a leading man as talented as Will Smith mostly carrying the thing, his usual bottomless charm is complimented by a heavy amount of cynicism plus he's able to make some of the worst lines land pretty well.

The other part that holds this together is Joel Edgerton. Hidden behind some really impressive makeup he still brings so much humanity whilst also having strong chemistry with Smith. Their rapport is probably the only part of the film that is meant to be funny and actually is.

David Ayer's direction is more Suicide Squad than End of Watch which means there's a lot of conflicting stylistic choices, some of which are just so funny (a slow motion Will Smith shootout is a real highlight) and of course, plenty of needle drops (once again probably too many).

I had such high hopes for this movie, but at the end of the day my hopes were too high. I loved the idea of it all, but when I actually sat down to watch it I found myself wanting to stop less than half way through because it was just... boring. I feel like a lot of the culture and world could have been built up and better explained. It doesn't have to be spoon fed to the audience, but really... It would have been nice to have some lore other than some spray tags in the opening credits. I think the hints of the world created by the writers was incredibly fascinating, but all of it was wasted.

The concept was really neat and I was excited for it, but it was poorly executed. A lot of the scene changes and jump in plot was messy and didn't make sense other than to force a continuation of the story. There was some political commentary stuff. Not a ton, but the big points are kind of shoved in your face when they pop up. The jokes could have been delivered a lot better as well. I was hoping for some comedy, given the trailer, but in the end it just wasn't... A lot of characters were wasted. Some of them would have been really cool to just learn more about, but instead more screen time was split between less interesting characters that really only show up for two scenes and then die later.

Now that's not to say there weren't good points. The visuals were nice. As nice as visuals of people getting their guts blown out with a shotgun can be, I mean. And some of the music was good as well. There were some editing choices that seemed... odd to me, but I'll let them slide in this instance.

All in all? LotR meets Zootopia meets any buddy cop film ever made with neat visuals. For all its budget, I wish more time had been spent on reviewing the material from the point of view of an audience member so that some mistakes could have been avoided.

I've been deliberately avoiding watching this movie for 4 years because of the bad reviews but tonight my wife and I decided we were in the mood for an average movie to pass the time and boy oh boy were we surprised.

The movie is way better than ratings and reviews would lead you to think. Mr. Smith did better in other shows and he is a bit of a camera hog but overall the movie was extremely enjoyable and engaging.

I certainly recommend this movie to any viewer who is in the mood for an over-the-edge action superhero/alien flick.

Bright has an amazing title sequence, using graffiti and posters to sketch out a contemporary Los Angeles where fairies and elves are real and Orcs are an oppressed race dealing with humans who fear and hate them. It's a densely packed sequence that promises something really cool.

The early part of the movie does a nice job of world building. Will Smith is a human cop forced to partner with the first Orc cop, who is hated by the entire department. Unlike our world where race is a constructed artifice, here race is very specific, and humans are all one. So Will is a mildly racist human who never experienced the anti-black racism of the real world.

We also get to see Will murder a fairy, which is basically a flying rat in humanoid form.

In this world magic exists, and certain individuals known as "brights" are able to wield magic wands, which will destroy anyone else who touches them. Will and Orc come across a scene of magical slaughter and find a young elf woman who has a wand. The lure of magic is strong, and the movie becomes a hectic run from magic-desiring cops and thugs, as well as the wand's original fairy owner, whose gang is an unstoppable force of murderous gymnasts.

To put it more simply, Bright is a mismatched/buddy cop movie (with a twist) involving a night of mayhem. It's predictable, shallow, and has some fun action sequences and light, somewhat amusing banter.

The critics hated this movie, but I'd say it's pretty standard as buddy-cop movies go. Lethal Weapon and 48 hours, big hits the critics like better than Bright, seem equally dopey. Honestly, I enjoyed it more than either of those "classics."

But I can't help but wish the movie had followed the path set by its title sequence, with more attention paid to the racism of a society that has actual races.

Also, why are all the thugs black? I mean, it's a world where presumably humans see themselves as one race, so why would poor neighborhoods have so few white people in them? It suggests that the premise wasn't really carefully thought out.

Anyway, Bright is fine. It's not the end of the world if you miss it, but it's got some fun stuff in it.

I love the world building and the setting of this movie... the only thing that comes to my mind thats similar is Onward which was released 3 years later by Disney. To explore this world with a series would've been much more exciting... sadly the run time isn't enough for this and the weak story doesn't help with that... GREAT concept but wrong execution :/

This could have been amazing. Instead we get a mashup of movies we've seen before (Alien Nation, Training Day, etc.) that results in a disordered, shallow mess. The world is never fully explained, the characters are not fleshed out, the dialogue is cliched. Will Smith looks like he's phoning it in, and I don't blame him. There were some nice action sequences and the special effects, particularly involving the wand, were effective. That was the movie's only saving grace.

I hear they've already greenlit a sequel. If so, please, Netflix, for the love of God, find a better screenwriter.

I honestly don't get what the critics wanted from this movie! Especially that one guy who called this the "worst movie of 2017". REALLY? That's a huge lie...what about The Emoji Movie or The Snowman, or Al Pacino's movie, The Hangman??? Anyway, if you're expecting Suicide Squad...STOP. It's nothing like Suicide Squad, in terms of the acting, the action, the emotional/serious moments and the overall quality. It's much, much better than that movie, for anyone who was comparing to that movie. Now, It's not Hacksaw Ridge or The Godfather type quality, it's a typical buddy-cop set-up in a twisted, yet fun, fantasy environment. Think Lethal Weapon/Training Day/End of Watch meets Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit. Sounds weird, but you'll be pleasantly surprised.The chemistry between Will and Joel is great, the action is great and pretty much anytime Will and Joel have serious moments those are basically some of the most memorable ones out of the whole movie. There are very minor flaws, but it doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed Bright and I think audiences will too, I mean, go ahead and google the audience reviews. It's a Netflix movie, if people can enjoy bad movies and shows on Netflix, then people will definitely like this one. It's clearly a "people's movie", not a "critic's movie". WATCH IT and ENJOY!

OK, it's got orcs and magic and elves and even mentions of dwarfs, but it's a simple cop movie. It features obvious foreshadowing, typical cardboard villains that are terrifying and effective only when not engaging our heroes who, by in some way or another, are regular folks, like me, and you, and Harry Potter. Only brave. Yet it was also a fun movie. The effects were OK, the world building was subtle enough to leave a lot of room for exploring and the acting was mostly good. And the plot feels so familiar as is similar to so many other movies like, say, Alien Nation. Wait... It's exactly like Alien Nation. And, alas, just like that movie is a cult film for just a few and some have never heard of it, so will it happen with Bright. At least that one spawned a TV series, which is the best possible outcome for this film. Too bad, since with a little bit of creative effort, it could have been both appealing to the masses and having something intelligent and inspiring in the background.

As it is, the social issues it barely touches are drowned in the racial and tribal stereotypes that abound in the film. As it was no more than I expected, but wasn't disappointed, I rate it average. And for two hours... it was too long.

Bright is a blunt allegory about race and class. It also again leads me to question if David Ayer knows how to direct a movie.

The film is really an updated and for Netflix an expensive reimagination of Alien Nation with bits of The Lords of the Rings thrown in set in some alternative Los Angeles that still manages to be grimy and run down.

Humans of all colours, orcs, elves and fairies coexist in this world. Elves seem to be the super elite and orcs are the underclass. Will Smith plays Ward who has been handed a new partner, an orc Jakoby (Joel Edgerton) the first of his kind to join the force. After an incident where Ward got shot by an orc who got away from Jacoby's clutches. Ward distrusts his partner, the other police officers in the precinct are plotting to get rid of Jakoby.

Both then learn to trust and protect each other as they encounter an elf with a magical wand. Before long they are being pursued by law enforcement, criminal gangs and other more powerful creatures.

The film is murky, muddied and muddled.

After watching this movie, I was quite shocked by the professional critics, who had little good to say. I don't know what exactly they were expecting, but it seems they just didn't understand this movie.

I'm pretty picky when it comes to stories and acting, very picky in fact, but this was top of the line on both counts. I enjoy very much being thrown into an unusual storyline, unapologetically and without excessive "set up"... and being demanded to accept an odd new world, as it is, on face value. That's exactly what this movie does, and does it well. The story is fascinating, compelling, and weaves a great tale. Joel Edgerton is awesome as Jakoby, and the rest of the cast are naturals, eminently believable. The action is well-suited and not over the top. I'm not a huge Will Smith fan, but he did a great job here too.

I've watched it and rewatched it. You should too. Wish there was a sequel or series!

Another excellent WILL SMITH movie & role!!!

"Bright" is an underrated gem.

I think this is actually one of Smith's best roles & films, "Bright" will be a future Cult Classic i think!!!

This is like the new ALIEN NATION.

What i absolutely love about this fantastic film is it's thick smoggy, gloomy, rain drenched & neon lit look & dark atmosphere & it's night time streets of Los Angeles that seem so dangerous & this alternate fantasy comic book type universe version of L. A feels like a boiling pot ready to explode with all it's violence & different species & races that all seem so angry!!! It's a very scary los Angeles.

I've always loved my childhood hero "Will Smith" & I've followed his amazing career since his Fresh Prince days & the guy is an ICON & one of the best actors out there today!!!

He's been abit of a role model for me since my teens & nearly every movie he makes is great with the exception of a few like the terrible "Focus" but usually he's great & the film is too.

I'm a huge fan of David Ayers Suicide Squad which he cast Smith as the Awesome Deadshot, Another excellent performance & way underrated film.

Smith was definitely fantastic as Deadshot in the BRILLIANT underrated SUICIDE SQUAD & moved on to "Bright" with the same great director david ayer who he works perfectly with & here & smith is excellent as tough rugged older cop Daryl Ward who has to team up with an orc on the police force & it's one of my favourite characters that Smith has ever played.

"Bright" has alot happening with our hero duo cops on the beat with all sorts of craziness that happens including finding a magic wand, being hunted by violent street gangs of both humans & orcs & fighting off super killer elves & crooked cops!!! A dark fantasy cop THRILLER full of gritty corruption & violent streets of thugs, this cop film moves along at a great pace & is full of action & some fun banter.

"Bright" is part old school buddy Cop genre from the 80's with a fantasy twist to it, it's a unique Cop Thriller & very dark & gritty & violent so yeah it's excellent!!!

This fantasy world created here is so unique & interesting i want to see much more & we will with a sequel in the works & I'm excited, although it's fantasy it's still a mirror image of our own dark world just made more fantastical, the gritty & violent rough neighbourhoods of LA are here & so is the gangs of thugs & all the graffiti covered walls!!!

"Bright" often feels old school like an 80's or 90's film & that's a good thing, I got vibes of Cop Thriller's like Training Day & Colours & Alien Nation & Lethal Weapon & 48 hrs & even dark murky urban sci-fi films such as BladeRunner & Robocop & The Terminator, there's a dark & dangerous 80's look to the night time scenes of the urban streets & often a John Carpenter feel with it's vibes & dark look just like Escape from New York & echoes of Assault on precinct 13 are also here, i love all those movies mentioned so ioved Bright.

Need to explore the world of Bright with a hopefully full on franchise of films!!!

Will Smith really does give another excellent performance here & is one of his toughest roles by that i mean he's a very no-nonsense tough Cop & is sarcastic & intense, he's abit of a mix of his Mike Lowry character from Bad Boys with a bit of his serious Deadshot from Suicide squad.

Bright is also visually stunning with it's striking cinematography & use of bright lights & neon colours surrounded in darkness, a great sharp looking film.

Another excellent performance is from Joel Edgerton as the troubled orc cop Nick Jakoby, he's an extremely brave, tough & loyal orc who wants to do good & do the right thing even with everyone against him even his own kind, he's the great moral centre & heart of this magical fantasy Thriller.

A big thing i loved about this fantasy Cop Thriller is it felt like i was watching an 80's or early 90's Film, whether intended or not to feel old school & retro? It definitely did to me & i loved it for that almost Nostalgia feel like a "Lethal Weapon" film or "Alien Nation" on that old Cop film feel with abit of "Training Day" feel & grit & again "Bright" is excellent & one of the most underrated films of recent years in my opinion.

This is well directed by David Ayer & full of danger & violence ANOTHER underrated but great movie!!!

WILL SMITH is Fantastic again & has created another great character.

This is an underrated movie that will become a much loved cult film as the years pass.

I love fantasy films & i love Cop films & "Bright" is both.

I really want this Netflix original movie on dvd, I've already watched it about 5 times already i need to own a physical copy. Really excellent cop film.

The world of this movie is quite similar to some of things I'm writing in my novel right now. The premise of humanoid creatures and humans living side by side together after an apocalypse, coup or uprising is incredibly fascinating to me.

However this film lacks any charm, intelligence, originality or proper satiric message that a sci-fi film about society could and should offer.

The plot involves Will Smith's character being paired up with an Orc cop, played by Joel Egerton who rescues a young elf from the clutches of murderous Elves. A magic wand, in which only people who are "bright" can use, is the source of all of the problems in which all races, good and bad, would kill to have in their possession. During the first couple of minutes, it is amusing and funny, but then it's all downhill from there. Everybody in this movie talks like street-kid bullies. You'd think high-ranking officers would be a little more professional in their manner of speaking and handling things, but they're not. The majority of them are power-hungry and corrupt. It's not believable.

The film decides to use guns instead of wits to win the game. And we all know now that is just simply the complete wrong way to go.

A real shame because this film had a chance to do something interesting and different. I was genuinely bored the whole way through. It's just gang fight after gang fight with no originality.