BRIGHT Movie Review

I was really excited for this movie when I first started hearing about it. Fantasy blended with the modern world is one of those things I really enjoy seeing entertainment tackle. It's definitely a different challenge from our traditional High Fantasy, and I could see that a lot of people were immediately put off by it. However, not I. I am a huge fantasy lover and I admit that I was beyond excited about this coming out.

In case you were wondering, yes! This movie has an agenda. It is clear that they wanted to handle issues of race as a focal point of this movie. That doesn't bother me at all. My only issue is that it was handled in such a way that made it feel a bit forced, when I think it could have been more beautifully done if they allowed those tensions to be there more naturally. After all, it wasn't hard to see what they were doing; and there is nothing I hate more than when the creators start treating the audience as if we are stupid.

This is not to say that the subject matter is irrelevant at all. It is very important and I am appreciative that they chose to do this through a fantasy setting considering that fantasy has been known to be very limited in the diversity aspect. As well as the fact that fantasy has always been a great medium for spreading morals and values through society.

I believe that this movie had a lot of good content to work with, the issue was the execution. Mostly, time constraints. This concept definitely would have been better suited for a mini series. The setting alone, although clearly a slanted version of our own world, was deserving of more screen time. I loved looking at the art and would have loved to see more into the Elven District. We could have definitely used more world immersion since it was incredible. The fairy scene simply wasn't enough (although it was an excellent example of setting) and I would have loved to see more mini scenes with other fantasy creatures blended into every day reality.

Alas, we must on to the actual plot; which needed extra time. Going on we see that there was lack of development, especially in the villains department. They set up a few things as corrupt and could constitute as villain-esque.

First, there was a sect of the police department. They could have definitely been set up as more intricate in their corruption as opposed to springing it up on us later. They instead opted for making most of the police department generally unlikable and therefore easy to accept as corrupt down the line. This was a smart move considering the time constraints, but a poor move when it comes towards pacing and world immersion.

Our "main" villains (and i say "main" as it is highly suggested that there is a darker picture, and they are hanging onto hopes of a sequel) were really just assassins and had zero depth and motivations other than serving a Dark Lord. I feel like that is really bland and not stimulating at all. And that is exactly how it translated on screen. I enjoy seeing villains that have genuine personalities and motivations. They opted for going with bad-ass action villains that had almost no lines other than to reveal to us what the audience already knew: that there was a bigger and darker picture going on.

The issue was... just too much to work with. I have absolutely no qualms with the cast, only that I wish there were better chemistry with our heroes, again I blame the time constraints. I do believe it is worth a watch on Netflix but not worth spending an outing in order to watch it on the Big screen. Its worth the watch simply to see classic fantasy elements bleed into a modern world, a darker modern world at that.