Bright

 3/4

Starring: Will Smith, Joel Edgerton, Lucy Fry, Noomi Rapace, Edgar Ramierez, Jay Hernandez, Enrique Murciano

Not Rated (probable R for Strong Violence, Pervasive Language, Some Sexuality/Nudity and Brief Drug Use)

What would happen if you added all the traditional elements of fantasy (magic, orcs, elves, and so on) and stuck them into our reality?  What would it be like?  Most fantasy seems stuck in the Middle Ages with swords and horses, and where the staple snack is bread and cheese.  In "Bright," elves drive in cars, orcs use shotguns, and magic is dangerous.

It's such an intriguing idea that I'm surprised that no film has attempted to cross pollenate high fantasy with a modern day film.  Probably because the world-building barrier is so high.  To tell its story, the film must explain how the world works and how each aspect relates to each other.  With such a complicated premise, it would require a deft hand to pull this off.  Fortunately, writer Max Landis and director David Ayer manage to pull it off.  More or less.

It's Daryl Ward's (Smith) first day back on the beat after an injury.  He was shot point blank by a an orc with a shotgun while his partner Nick Jakoby (Edgerton) was getting lunch.  Naturally Ward would rather have a different partner, but that's not possible because Jakoby is the first orc cop and they can't fire a trailblazer like him without a very good reason.  So Ward stews in silence, throwing insults at the hapless Jakoby until the answer a call a rough neighborhood.  Not only is it loaded from top to bottom with enough firepower to start a war, but there is a wand there.  Everyone wants it, no one more so than a trio of elves led by the vicious Leilah (Rapace).

"Bright" is such a risky and ambitious movie that I can almost recommend it simply on those grounds alone.  That it works at all is something of a miracle.  But I did feel a sense that it could have done more. Maybe I'm asking too much.  Okay, fine, I probably am.  But consider "Minority Report," a film that also had a unique idea.  In that movie, the concept was fully exploited; the film did everything it possibly could (or seemed to) with its pregnant idea.  "Bright" uses it as little more than window dressing and obvious allegory.  I just wished they had a better story than the cliched magical quest.  Perhaps the sequel will give us more of an exploration into this world.

One thing that holds the film back are the lackluster performances.  I guess too much time was spent on the world building and special effects to pay any attention to things like character development and acting.  The best performances are given by by Joel Edgerton, who despite having an obvious struggle to speak underneath the makeup, manages to make Jakoby into a guy I felt for, and Noomi Rapace, who manages to truly chill as a villain.  Will Smith is a disappointment.  He's coasting by on his charisma (which is considerable), but Ward isn't especially interesting or likable.  He's kind of a jerk, and while that's partly due to the way the character was written, little of Smith's charm has shone through.  Lucy Fry is awful as the obligatory third wheel, so it's a good thing that she doesn't have a lot of dialogue.  The rest of the cast, which includes talented character actors like Edgar Ramierez and Jay Hernandez, is flat.

I should also mention that "Bright" is absolutely not okay for children.  This is a brutal, bloody film with a lot of intense action and profanity being thrown out as much as the bullets.  I appreciated that.  As much as I like "The Lord of the Rings," there's certainly room for more adult fare in this genre.

"Bright" has the right materials to start a franchise if Netflix so desires it, which may be the case since the second installment was green lighted before the original was released.  I'm not going to mark the release date on the calendar, but I'm intrigued to see where it will go.  But they need to do more and try more next time.  They have a good foundation.  Now they need tup up the ante.