Bright
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Interslicery
.....
Apparently it's getting universally panned, and I don't know why. It's fine. Nothing amazing, nothing abysmal. If anything the story isn't all that interesting, and the villains are boring as hell. They have, maybe 10 lines in the whole movie.
Edgerton is the best thing in the movie as the Orc sidekick, Nick. Smith is fine.
What exactly is the track record for fantasy movies not linked to the Lord of the rings, or Harry Potter? It seems like most of them get slammed. Fantasy in modern day, it seems like 100% of them do. Unjustly, I think. They're fine.
Bright is no where near the worst movie of the year. Especially not bad enough to make the Emoji Movie look good by comparison, which some critics have been saying.
Edgerton is the best thing in the movie as the Orc sidekick, Nick. Smith is fine.
What exactly is the track record for fantasy movies not linked to the Lord of the rings, or Harry Potter? It seems like most of them get slammed. Fantasy in modern day, it seems like 100% of them do. Unjustly, I think. They're fine.
Bright is no where near the worst movie of the year. Especially not bad enough to make the Emoji Movie look good by comparison, which some critics have been saying.
Cthulhu
Administrator
- AKA
- Yop
Well there you go - your own description says it's "fine", it's "nothing amazing". Cookie cutter generic series, and anything that isn't blowing people's minds will get poor reviews these days.
TBF Netflix feels like it's a provider of direct-to-vhs / dvd series and movies; a notch above what direct-to-x movies/stuff used to be, but still a far cry from proper AAA cinema releases. I'm not impressed with most of their series offering (generic marvel shit, etc) (although I have to note that Punisher ep 12 was pretty good). They've got some okay documentaries but most of them are of the "cut up interview of half a dozen people for an hour and a half" variety.
Cthulhu
Administrator
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- Yop
Okay now that I actually watched it, 
TL;DR A series could be interesting I guess.
It's actually better than a direct-to-dvd cookie cutter thing; it does feel very much like a universe introductionary movie of sorts, combined with a buddy cop thing. Lots of tropes but executed well, good choreography and whatnot. It could work as a pilot for a series I'd say.
Critics don't like it, but fans give it a solid 7.5 on metacritic.
But yeah, it doesn't really challenge anything; it goes for the easy stereotypes of both black and latino gangsters on the one hand, and adds the fantasy races on top. Elves are smug cunts because they're elves, orcs are kinda brutish klingons because they're orcs. TBF fantasy could tone it down with the "you are race X so your character traits are Y"; I know most break out of those by usually having the important characters being a bit different (like orc the cop in this case), but still. Come on.
I guess they're trying to lighten it up a bit by having Smith and Edgerton try some of that buddy cop banter, buuuut it doesn't really work / never gets particularly funny. Both characters are a bit boring tbf.
Critics don't like it, but fans give it a solid 7.5 on metacritic.
But yeah, it doesn't really challenge anything; it goes for the easy stereotypes of both black and latino gangsters on the one hand, and adds the fantasy races on top. Elves are smug cunts because they're elves, orcs are kinda brutish klingons because they're orcs. TBF fantasy could tone it down with the "you are race X so your character traits are Y"; I know most break out of those by usually having the important characters being a bit different (like orc the cop in this case), but still. Come on.
I guess they're trying to lighten it up a bit by having Smith and Edgerton try some of that buddy cop banter, buuuut it doesn't really work / never gets particularly funny. Both characters are a bit boring tbf.
TL;DR A series could be interesting I guess.
X-SOLDIER
Harbinger O Great Justice
- AKA
- X
Just finished it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think that the final... 1/4th or maybe even 1/5th of the film is the weakest part and felt tonally a little different for some reason, but it was overall thoroughly enjoyable. I'd totally be in to seeing a bit more if there're interesting things to offer insofar as a series or something (they mention 9 races, but we only see 3 of them, unless you count a quick scene of a girl in a strip club with nictitating membranes when he blinks, and a single centaur standing on patrol to the Elf District).
Either way, it made for a good watch to be sure!
X
Either way, it made for a good watch to be sure!
X
Lulcielid
Eyes of the Lord
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- Lulcy
Cthulhu
Administrator
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- Yop
Eh might as well. Doesn't make my dick hard but hey, gotta give them a chance.
I gathered there was a background thing of sorts on netflix? The website I read it on said that that shit should've been in the movie; instead we got some gunfights with a light bit of lore sprinkled in between.
I gathered there was a background thing of sorts on netflix? The website I read it on said that that shit should've been in the movie; instead we got some gunfights with a light bit of lore sprinkled in between.
The Twilight Mexican
Ex-SeeD-ingly good
- AKA
- TresDias
Kinky.
Clement Rage
Pro Adventurer
Personally enjoyed it. I like the 'it's a moving universe, try to keep up' style of storytelling.
I'm not seeing reasons to hate it. The stereotypes are exist in universe but are actually averted by basically every character.
I'm not seeing reasons to hate it. The stereotypes are exist in universe but are actually averted by basically every character.
Lex
Administrator
I have this thing about Will Smith (and his entire family) where I just can't really stand any of them, so I've avoided watching this but a few people said it was alright. I'm also annoyed because Netflix is beating me over the head with it every time I log in, so that's triggering my authority complex and I'm just like NO I WILL NOT STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO NETFLIX.
This post is fairly pointless
This post is fairly pointless
Channy
Bad Habit
- AKA
- Ruby Rose, Lucy
And the 'lizard man crossing' sign in the intro! And the faery!!
We watched it, thought it was pretty good. Yeah it's not phenomenal, but it delivers what it's supposed to. As far as Netflix movies go, it's purdy darn good. I'd much rather have seen it as a series than movie and sequel, the world building doesn't beat you over the head but entices you with more out there.
Strangelove
AI Researcher
- AKA
- hitoshura
i caved and watched it, even though i wasn't too drawn to it in the first place (probably because i hadn't really heard about it until it was out and getting critically panned). i don't think i saw enough of 2017's films to say if it were the worst or not but i think i would probably put it on the lesser side of the scale, which is a feeling that gets stronger the more i think about it and i only watched it yesterday.
it was entertaining enough on a first watch through, though i ended up doing other stuff while watching it too and the middle part was a bit of a drag. but what potential the worldbuilding might have had seems wasted by the fact they just went with 'it's the real world but there's some fantasy shit pasted over the top of it'.
in the episode of the simpsons with neil gaiman where they group-write a modern fantasy novel for tweens they describe the set up for their book like 'the elves are preppies! the stoners are gargoyles!' and bright kinda feels like someone did that but they were being serious. except here it's 'orcs are poor black people and elves are rich white people and fairies are flying vermin' instead.
idk man this is not a film that is ageing well for me even after less than 24 hours. i find myself getting more annoyed at it if i keep thinking about it.
i know some people thinking about going to netflix with projects and it would seem like there's a low bar for entry but maybe that bar is actually 'i'm max landis and i have a famous dad'.
i read that ayers rewrote the script in a kind of reverse suicide squad situation and honestly, i think it should have gotten a couple more rewrites. and maybe not a sequel greenlit pretty much straight away. counting streaming figures like ticket sales is daft because my watching it because it was there on netflix already doesn't mean i would have gone through the effort of going to a cinema for it, or even renting it. i wouldn't have even bothered downloading it if it weren't just right there for me already and didn't have the negative hype making me want to see for myself.
to same something nice, i liked the magic effects and i thought noomi rapace's look in the film was pretty stylish.
it was entertaining enough on a first watch through, though i ended up doing other stuff while watching it too and the middle part was a bit of a drag. but what potential the worldbuilding might have had seems wasted by the fact they just went with 'it's the real world but there's some fantasy shit pasted over the top of it'.
in the episode of the simpsons with neil gaiman where they group-write a modern fantasy novel for tweens they describe the set up for their book like 'the elves are preppies! the stoners are gargoyles!' and bright kinda feels like someone did that but they were being serious. except here it's 'orcs are poor black people and elves are rich white people and fairies are flying vermin' instead.
that bonus video about the history of magic apparently explains that magic was outlawed in the 18th century? i haven't watched it but does it bother to explain how you would be able to outlaw the use of what characters in the film describe as a 'nuclear bomb that grants wishes'? what legal recourse are you going to have on someone who can disappear you in a flash? how are you going to stop them. do magic feds use magic to stop magic?
how is history not substantially changed by magic? every war should be pretty easily won by whoever happened to have a bright on their side and could turn the entire enemy army into maggots or clouds of dust with a flick of a wrist or a silly sounding word. did hitler try to use magic? did anyone try to use magic against hitler? did the inclusion of fantasy races effect things like the civil war? were other races slaves as well? slave owners?
why are orcs hated for siding with the dark lord, but not elves since the dark lord was an elf? did no one else side with the dark lord at all? why are orcs still hated when the great hero who lead everyone against the dark lord was an orc, does that not count for something?
did the dark lord and magic influence the development of world religions? would people still believe jesus was the son of god when others can do all his miracles with a magic wand? do they just consider jesus a bright?
is there a nation where a fantasy race is the majority population? do other fantasy races face oppression or is it just orcs? that line about 'elves running everything' sounds an awful lot like 'jews run everything'. what about human racism, is that the same? how did fantasy races fit into existing civil rights movements?
this is the problem i have had with the setting. i hadn't really given it much thought before watching it except hearing that it wasn't that well thought out. but the more you think about it the more it just seems like they wanted 'what about a buddy cop film... but one of the cops is an orc! and there's magic!' but didn't bother putting in more work that 'fairies are like, flying rats or something!' and just leaving it at that. like they were more interesting in a pretty generic 'buddy cop/find and protect an important item' story than building on the premise that seems like it was meant to be the main selling point of the film. (i get this is stuff they can potentially fill out in future instalments, but this was meant to be people's introduction to this world. aren't you meant to get people into it from the get go?)
and then even that story feels sloppy upon further thought. like stuff that just seems to go nowhere or just doesn't make much sense.
in some parts it tries to build up will smith as this loner, but he has a loving family waiting for him at home and doesn't seem that disliked by most of his coworkers. jakoby talks about that ancient orc hero like it's meant to mean something for his arc (like the rest of the exposition dumping dialogue), and then it... doesn't really mean much in the end? i mean, will smith is the bright. jakoby is just kind of there.
plus how did that crazy guy they arrest know will smith was 'blessed' but later says the only way to know if you're a bright is 'touch the wand and hope you don't explode'? how did they know tikka was a bright to begin training her, do they just make everyone in their evil group touch the wand and keep the ones who don't explode? do only humans explode? why did will smith act surprised tikka was a bright when he saw her use the wand when they met and called her a 'potential bright'? why build up the shield of light when they are pretty much irrelevant by the half way point?
why were the gang members so eager to get their hands on the wand when there was a 99.99999% they would just die if they touched it? why were the crooked cops? why is anyone? are you all prepared to die for this?
why did everyone seem to know where will smith and jakoby were? not just the evil elf gang (also why not just send them to kill tikka instead of sending someone with your precious wand, why does this stuff happen). the latino gang seemed to know where to find them. the orc gang found them easily. the evil elves found them. that just seems awful convenient and that whole part of the story dragged on too long.
what was the point of meeting up with the orc jakoby let escape later on when there's no real payoff to that? jakoby is about to get killed, it turns out here's the kid he helped... and he still gets shot, seemingly just so mysterious waif can bring him back to life and then start to die. what purpose did meeting the kid again serve?
what purpose did tikka not speaking english serve? she says it's because she had to know she could trust them, but why did that take so long? did their helping her all the way up to that point not do it for her? why was she saying important things to them in elvish rather than english, when she apparently doesn't trust them? why stay with them? you have a bloody wand that can turn people into smouldering bones and creepy wall art, can't you just defend yourself if you don't trust them?
why did you spend like 5 minutes at the end of the film recapping the events of the film. whyyyyyy.
is will smith meant to be a fantasy racist? why did he kill a fairy, what basically is a small animal, with a broom? that seems needlessly cruel, am i supposed to relate to this character for murdering a living being because it was being a minor annoyance to his wife. who thought 'fairy lives don't matter today' was a good idea? in a film filled with thinly-veiled-if-at-all-veiled racial allegories.
how is history not substantially changed by magic? every war should be pretty easily won by whoever happened to have a bright on their side and could turn the entire enemy army into maggots or clouds of dust with a flick of a wrist or a silly sounding word. did hitler try to use magic? did anyone try to use magic against hitler? did the inclusion of fantasy races effect things like the civil war? were other races slaves as well? slave owners?
why are orcs hated for siding with the dark lord, but not elves since the dark lord was an elf? did no one else side with the dark lord at all? why are orcs still hated when the great hero who lead everyone against the dark lord was an orc, does that not count for something?
did the dark lord and magic influence the development of world religions? would people still believe jesus was the son of god when others can do all his miracles with a magic wand? do they just consider jesus a bright?
is there a nation where a fantasy race is the majority population? do other fantasy races face oppression or is it just orcs? that line about 'elves running everything' sounds an awful lot like 'jews run everything'. what about human racism, is that the same? how did fantasy races fit into existing civil rights movements?
this is the problem i have had with the setting. i hadn't really given it much thought before watching it except hearing that it wasn't that well thought out. but the more you think about it the more it just seems like they wanted 'what about a buddy cop film... but one of the cops is an orc! and there's magic!' but didn't bother putting in more work that 'fairies are like, flying rats or something!' and just leaving it at that. like they were more interesting in a pretty generic 'buddy cop/find and protect an important item' story than building on the premise that seems like it was meant to be the main selling point of the film. (i get this is stuff they can potentially fill out in future instalments, but this was meant to be people's introduction to this world. aren't you meant to get people into it from the get go?)
and then even that story feels sloppy upon further thought. like stuff that just seems to go nowhere or just doesn't make much sense.
in some parts it tries to build up will smith as this loner, but he has a loving family waiting for him at home and doesn't seem that disliked by most of his coworkers. jakoby talks about that ancient orc hero like it's meant to mean something for his arc (like the rest of the exposition dumping dialogue), and then it... doesn't really mean much in the end? i mean, will smith is the bright. jakoby is just kind of there.
plus how did that crazy guy they arrest know will smith was 'blessed' but later says the only way to know if you're a bright is 'touch the wand and hope you don't explode'? how did they know tikka was a bright to begin training her, do they just make everyone in their evil group touch the wand and keep the ones who don't explode? do only humans explode? why did will smith act surprised tikka was a bright when he saw her use the wand when they met and called her a 'potential bright'? why build up the shield of light when they are pretty much irrelevant by the half way point?
why were the gang members so eager to get their hands on the wand when there was a 99.99999% they would just die if they touched it? why were the crooked cops? why is anyone? are you all prepared to die for this?
why did everyone seem to know where will smith and jakoby were? not just the evil elf gang (also why not just send them to kill tikka instead of sending someone with your precious wand, why does this stuff happen). the latino gang seemed to know where to find them. the orc gang found them easily. the evil elves found them. that just seems awful convenient and that whole part of the story dragged on too long.
what was the point of meeting up with the orc jakoby let escape later on when there's no real payoff to that? jakoby is about to get killed, it turns out here's the kid he helped... and he still gets shot, seemingly just so mysterious waif can bring him back to life and then start to die. what purpose did meeting the kid again serve?
what purpose did tikka not speaking english serve? she says it's because she had to know she could trust them, but why did that take so long? did their helping her all the way up to that point not do it for her? why was she saying important things to them in elvish rather than english, when she apparently doesn't trust them? why stay with them? you have a bloody wand that can turn people into smouldering bones and creepy wall art, can't you just defend yourself if you don't trust them?
why did you spend like 5 minutes at the end of the film recapping the events of the film. whyyyyyy.
is will smith meant to be a fantasy racist? why did he kill a fairy, what basically is a small animal, with a broom? that seems needlessly cruel, am i supposed to relate to this character for murdering a living being because it was being a minor annoyance to his wife. who thought 'fairy lives don't matter today' was a good idea? in a film filled with thinly-veiled-if-at-all-veiled racial allegories.
idk man this is not a film that is ageing well for me even after less than 24 hours. i find myself getting more annoyed at it if i keep thinking about it.
i know some people thinking about going to netflix with projects and it would seem like there's a low bar for entry but maybe that bar is actually 'i'm max landis and i have a famous dad'.
i read that ayers rewrote the script in a kind of reverse suicide squad situation and honestly, i think it should have gotten a couple more rewrites. and maybe not a sequel greenlit pretty much straight away. counting streaming figures like ticket sales is daft because my watching it because it was there on netflix already doesn't mean i would have gone through the effort of going to a cinema for it, or even renting it. i wouldn't have even bothered downloading it if it weren't just right there for me already and didn't have the negative hype making me want to see for myself.
to same something nice, i liked the magic effects and i thought noomi rapace's look in the film was pretty stylish.
Clement Rage
Pro Adventurer
Some interesting questions there. When does a mystery become a plot hole?
X-SOLDIER
Harbinger O Great Justice
- AKA
- X
When that mystery directly impacts logically connecting the dots of a plot point.
(So many people misuse the word "plot hole" lately)
X