Netflix is allowing itself its first blockbuster after Okja, with Bright taking on Will Smith under the direction of David Ayer (Suicide Squad).
We read a lot about Bright before its release on Netflix. Worst film of the year, big mess, Ayer and Smith remake Suicide Squad… In short, a campaign of negativity had invaded the critical space. A few days later, when the public was able to discover the film, the positive attitude made its appearance. Bright isn’t bad.
It is true that the first images were scary with a kind of suicide squad fantasy with two of his previous craftsmen. The universe seemed in total adequacy with the general tone of the project. After viewing, Bright manages to impose its atmosphere and mixes to give to Will Smith his best role since I Am Legend in 2007.
A clever cross between the Lethal Weapon buddy-movie and the fantasy aspect of Underworld, Bright imposes a world populated by orcs and elves after ancestral wars. Jakoby the killer whale teams up with Ward, a cop near the end of his career. Stuck in a matter of interest, Jakoby must regain the trust of humans and his people. If we add to that a story of an elected elf and a magic wand, we understand that Bright is not the smartest film there is. Yet it is in a tenacious atmosphere and a fairly strict scenario that Bright gains the viewer’s trust. With a touch of humor, established codes that do not require debate, David Ayer’s film stands out as a film with welcome originality and a saving tone.
Not shrinking from any sacrifice of studios, the violence, the nudity (relative but present), and the raw dialogues are a pleasure to see for this kind of production. Censorship hardly exists and Bright shines with its formal ease. Will Smith is comfortable in this role of cop facing this rhythmic adventure. If we find the time a bit long, it’s because the script doesn’t try to be spectacular just to be. Bright takes his time and even if Ayer still and always has fun with very artificial scenes (the useless concert hall scene), we feel a real desire to offer a film with a rather pleasant identity. There is also in the action scenes an editing that is too cut which is a little detrimental to readability.
Nevertheless the script gets confused a little since the few revelations will not surprise the most informed. Attika, the elf, is at the heart of a revelation that already seemed almost tacit from the start of its plot. Too bad nothing gives Bright extra credit beyond his note of intent. Noomi Rapace is perfect as a villain, Joel Edgerton makes a good sidekick and imposes itself from scene to scene when Enrique Murciano is unrecognizable as a gang leader.
We do not escape the clichés of gangs, rivalries, crooked cop characters and questioned complicity for the two heroes, but Bright comes out of it with a good record. Never stupid, out of right-thinking and carried by a Will Smith in great shape (even if we still see the limits of a game that is still a little childish, inherited from his first films, he is still 50 years old!), Bright is a very honest film.