'Bright': Initial Reviews Describe a Bad Taste for Netflix's First Major Movie

Netflix is known for producing high-quality shows that keep us all hungering for more. With recent shows like “Stranger Things,” “American Vandal,” “13 Reasons Why,” and the German-language series “Dark,” this year proved to be the streaming service’s strongest yet. Enter “Bright,” Netflix’s first ever high-budget movie (they’ve been dabbling in small-time movies before). Directed by “Suicide Squad’s” David Ayer, “Bright” is a buddy-cop film starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton as two cops who live in a reality where humans, orcs, and other magical creatures co-exist. Edgerton plays Jakoby, an orc cop, while Smith plays Ward, the human partner to Jakoby. Together they go on a patrol and ultimately discovers something that could change the future of their world.
It’s an interesting premise and a compelling one too. However, early reviews by major online publications think otherwise. “Bright” is a bold and fresh step for Netflix, with movies rarely (or never, until now) hitting streaming services first before the big screen. Naturally, people are asking if the film comes at par with the quality of shows that they have produced. The margin of naysayers as compared to the praises are enormous, so let’s take a look at the initial reviews for Netflix’s “Bright.”

Netflix’s Bright: The “Meh.”

There’s a vague notion of the film recontextualizing real-life issues in a fantasy setting, but its world-building is so inept that there is zero point in scrutinizing any symbolism beyond the obvious. Orcs deserve respect, but The Man won’t give it to them because of ancient tribal grudges. Eventually, Ward will learn to hold an olive branch, thanks to his relationship with his partner, Nick Jakoby (Joel Edgerton)—the first ever orc cop. Guess who’s coming to the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association dinner? — Jordan Hoffman, Vanity Fair
Alas, the finished product, though plenty embarrassing, isn’t quite involving enough to merit the kind of pile-on mockery that greeted Ayer’s DC Comics abomination Suicide Squad. Stars Will Smith and Joel Edgerton play it mostly straight here, doing their part to sell the dopey premise, but the screenplay offers viewers little reward for our own suspension of disbelief. Rumored to be the most expensive Netflix original film to date, the pic may well attract eyeballs on the streaming outlet. But its potential as a franchise-starter is laughably small. — John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter
Truth be told, “Bright” is so wretched that it invites only the most cynical of interpretations, leaving you with no choice but to assume the film was tainted by the knowledge that most of its audience would see it on their phones or laptops. Ayer’s dim and sloppy action set-pieces look wildly out of place on a movie screen (they’re so bland you almost expect Iron Fist to show up), and the constipated dialogue scenes that surround them tend to repeat the same points ad nauseam, as though they were written to accommodate a teenage kid who’s multi-tasking between the movie he’s watching in one window and the porn he’s streaming in another. — David Ehrlich, IndieWire

David Ayer is the director and he’s had a role in other buddy cop films, helming “End of Watch” and writing “Training Day.” This, though, is a labored affair with little stylistic coherence. The scenes fit poorly together and the humor is forced. Though it’s supposed to span a day and night, it rains whenever the film needs that “Blade Runner” brooding wet darkness, a manipulative touch. — Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
If this new Netflix production exemplifies Ayer’s creativity unfettered by major-studio interference, I’ll take a lousy DC movie over… whatever this is any day of the week. Astoundingly bad in virtually every way, “Bright” shares in common several of the shortcomings of Ayer’s previous film, including conspicuous evidence of desperate efforts to cobble its under-explained and yet somehow overcomplicated mythology into something coherent. It also snipes at the heels of sci-fi movies and miniseries like “V” and “Alien Nation” that explored race relations better literally decades ago. — Todd Gilchrist, TheWrap
Despite these negative reviews, though, there are still some who offered up a kinder approach to how they saw “Bright.”

Netflix’s Bright: The “Okay!”

Having established a world so rich in potential and so full of resonance, Bright backs off from exploring its finer points, or those of its characters. Edgerton gives his orc character a credible blend of timidity, dignity and inner turmoil. Smith, the ostensible star, is often given little to do beyond crack wise and shoot stuff. One of the most satisfying scenes is where the two cops simply banter in their car. Orcs have a tenuous grasp of humor and irony but can detect “physical tells” humans don’t realize they’re making. Edgerton correctly identifies Smith’s facial expression as “human who needs a lot more conjugal love.” — Steve Rose, The Guardian
“Bright” is the best Netflix original movie to date, and it absolutely deserves to be seen on the big screen, though don’t let that stop you from watching at home, as “End of Watch” director David Ayer’s welcome return to the cop-movie genre — following a disastrous wrong turn into “Suicide Squad” territory, of which we will say no more — fills an intense, grown-up movie niche that Hollywood once did so well, but has since replaced with formula-driven product. — Peter Debruge, Variety
Bright is a high-concept feature, and writer Max Landis (American Ultra, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency) injects some timely, potentially resonant themes into his script. Early on, the movie attempts to address racism and the social caste system, with elves taking on the roles of the elite, and the orcs filling in for the racially profiled minorities and the lower classes. There’s an inherent tension between humans and orcs due to a long-ago war, and the two rarely mix and mingle. Someone like Jakoby, however, is stuck in the middle. Edgerton plays him like the happiest, most naive police officer in the history of film, and while he’s estranged from other orcs, he also can’t fit in with the rest of the cops who resent his presence in the LAPD as part of a diversity program. None of this is particularly subtle, but the basic dynamics echo our world cleanly enough to offer up some real ground to explore. And then the movie abandons its attempts at allegory altogether. — Bryan Bishop, The Verge

In the end, it’s probably a blessing for Bright that it ended up on Netflix, where it can sit in a queue for as long as the audience wants. It’s the opposite of must-see. It’s a collection of admittedly impressive action sequences (like $90 million impressive) trying to be so much more. Barring a certain Centaur Cop spin-off, Bright mostly deserves to be dimmed. — Vinnie Mancuso, Collider
Netflix’s Bright is an ambitious undertaking from the streaming giant. Director David Ayer (Suicide Squad) takes Max Landis’ (Chronicle) script and tries to shape it into something tangible that will neatly fit into a 2-hour runtime, but Bright is a compelling narrative that needed more time to breathe. Landis is building his own version of Lord of the Rings (meets Bad Boys), which is a story you can’t rush. Perhaps a sequel or a longer running time would offer this story and the world they created the larger context it required. — David Griffin, IGN
Bright is a high concept flick that combines multiple genres. It’s a gritty, ultra-violent cop drama mixed with fantasy elements. The film is set in present-day Los Angeles, but in a world where humans, orcs, and elves coexist. Bright transposes the racial and economic strife between races to species. Orcs are a subjugated working class, elves have the money, while humans are caught in between. Let’s not forget faeries, which are relegated to annoying house pests. It’s a fascinating premise that plays out with far less intrigue. — Julian Roman, MovieWeb
“Bright” is certainly polarizing, but Netflix doesn’t care. The streaming service already ordered a sequel to the film, so whether audiences like it or not, a continuation of Ward and Jakoby’s story is very likely. Depending on your taste, I say give it a shot, ’cause it’s not every day that you get a high-budgeted film from Netflix. Who knows, seeing it for yourself might prove these reviews otherwise—regardless which team you’re at.
“Bright” hits Netflix December 22nd.