Bright is set in an alternate present-day where fantasy races, such as orcs and elves, live amongst the human population. Starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton, its sort of buddy-cop movie with fantastical elements and where magic is a thing of legend. Despite what the internet says (see all the links below), I didn't find the plot hard to follow, or the introduction of the fantasy elements that hard to digest. I found it fun, entertaining, and it made me think. I don't always enjoy movies in which every detail, plot point and character motive is spoon-fed to the audience. And with a sequel in the works I'm sure some of the "plot holes" will be answered or explained.
I think the biggest thing with the premise of Bright - mixing modern-day with fantasy - is that it is all original. There is no source material for fans to rely on to answer their questions. They literally have to develop their own theories and postulate the future of the characters and world that was built. A vast majority of the movie industry right now is adapting literature, making reboots, or building on past ideas. There isn't as much wholly original content out there as people would like to think. (Television is somewhat of an exemption to this.) Netflix has gained a reputation for original content, so Bright fits right in on the streaming service and was likely its best platform for launch.
There are various big themes that Bright deals with and most of them in a very explicit and deliberate way, and others are a little more subtle. First off, and most obviously, are the themes of race and racism and police brutality. These subjects and the way they were portrayed were very out there and definitely not hidden from the audience. You explicitly see cops beating an orc, the lynching of an orc, and the treatment of Officer Jakoby by the rest of the police force. There has been chatter on the internet that fans were not receptive to the depiction of outright racism in Bright and some celebrities were very outspoken about it.(3) The problem I see is that complaints about racism in a movie are very contradictory to what is actually happening in the real world. There are depictions of racism all over the media and the internet and yet no one makes comments about them or wants to do anything about it. Save for those few movements that are trying to put a stop to racism and injustice against minorities.
There is a small redeeming moment in regards to the hatred for Officer Jakoby in the movie though. Its that, even though the rest of the police force is going out of its way to get rid of him, Officer Ward, his partner, does not go to the same lengths of expression, even though he does not want Jakoby either. To make my point, *SPOILERS AHEAD* Ward asks for another partner, albeit not very nicely, and doesn't say very nice things to Jakoby, but when push comes to shove, he actually saves Jakoby's life when the other officers opt to kill him to get rid of him. Ward isn't always great to Jakoby as there is obviously still racism there, but he takes Jakoby's side rather than go with the masses and try to kill him. I'm not defending the rest of Ward's actions, but I wanted to point out that one part of the movie specifically.
Another big theme, but more subtly place in the movie I think is the wand, and it's representation of greed and power. Everyone in the movie wants the wand. Whether to get rich, or bring back the Dark Lord, the wand shows the very base corruption that power and greed can have on the souls of all beings. Now, based on what I gathered of the back story, magic and magic wands were not always coveted as they are. Back when magic was not a legend, I'm assuming, it was much more accepted and didn't corrupt (as much) as it does in the present time-line of the movie. The biggest example of this corruption in Bright is when other officers find Ward and Jakoby in possession of the wand. *SPOILERS* This is when they decided to kill Jakoby and Ward to have the wand to themselves to do with that they please. Corruption at its finest.
Along with the wand, and the resurgence of magic once again to the front of every race's minds, comes the the magical enforcement Feds. All they want is to capture the wand and put magic back on the "its just a legend" burner. This comes to a head when *SPOILERS* at the end of the movie the Feds make Ward and Jakoby swear that Nothing. Even. Happened. And there was no magic wand. Or evil bad guys chasing it down. Like secret creepy CIA cover-up stuff going on there.
These themes are not so much a thing of the past as the overall population would like to believe. A lot of this stuff is still happening today. There is still a race war going on, whether it be towards African Americans or people from the Middle-East. There is still police brutality going both ways; police on people or people on police. There is still greed over money and fame (doubt this one will go away), and corruption in companies, government, politics and basically all over if you choose to see it. This movie shines a very poignant light on what is going on in the real world still.
Bright has a critic rating of the "Worst movie of 2017"(4) that I think is a little unfounded. I don't think they're looking at it in the right context. And lets face it, the internet thinks the "Worst movie of 2017" is The Last Jedi, to which I have a whole other argument as to why it also is not. I hope Netflix does the sequel justice and that a sequel will allow the collective body to pull their heads out their asses and realize that Bright is a good movie. I don't expect a realization of great, but at least good would be nice.
Its a smart movie. It makes you think and hopefully face some truths. And considering the internet and critics think its "SO" bad, causes there to be a lot of talk about it online and that will just get more people to watch it if they haven't already. In turn that will give it more publicity. I hope because of all of this it ends up becoming some sort of cult classic like The Room (2003). So bad, its actually good.
#endrant
(1) http://www.nme.com/news/film/netflix-confirm-bright-sequel-2204510
(2) http://fortune.com/2017/12/28/netflix-film-bright-nielsen-audience/
(3) http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/chance-the-rapper-bright-netflix-racism-metaphor-orcs-will-smith-joel-edgerton-cast-budget-plot-a8131021.html
(4) http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2017/12/critics-are-calling-netflix-bright-worst-movie-of-2017
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