Fairytale creatures meet humans in a world where darkness reigns. On December 22nd, Netflix will release the new Netflix Original film, Bright, directed by David Ayer.
There are three types of citizens in this futuristic LA world: Humans, orcs and elves. Will Smith stars as the main character named Scott Ward, who is a human police officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. He forms an unlikely pairing with an orc named Nick Jakoby, who is played by Joel Edgerton, and at first it seems they’re not going to get along. This is probably because the film has a big focus on social class however, the trailer suggests that they eventually get along simply because they must to survive.
Watching the trailer may not give us sufficient information to pin-point what exactly this film is about. We can see that it’s something different, something magical and something pretty awesome. However, it’s still a little confusing to understand the plot when there appears to be a lot going on at once.
What Does ‘Bright’ Actually Mean?
A bright is someone who has magical powers. From the trailer, we can see that the elves have magical powers for definite. Tikka, a young elf played by Lucy Fry, is shown to possess a wand in the trailer. It seems that this is where the adventure begins for the police officers when they match up with Tikka and must help her to protect the power of the wand.
In an interview at the San Diego Comic-Con, Lucy Fry said: “I can’t reveal too much because my character has a whole lot of secrets but I am like a little baby bright that has to learn what to do.”
Can Humans Hold Magical Powers?
Unfortunately not. As much as most of us would like to think that humans could hold magical powers, it’s just not possible. In fact, Fry also said in the interview: “You have to be trained to hold a wand and use a wand, if a human touched a wand they would explode.”
David Ayer has also recently said that the elves are the elite class and they “run the world”. He said: “The humans are the middle class, and the orcs are the workers. They do all the shit jobs.”
So there’s the level of hierarchy, which is evidently an important aspect of the film. Bright follows the lives of people who are doing normal things but it just so happens that there’s more to their lives than what many of us count as ‘normal’. It’s something much bigger than that, which challenges social norms and constructs.
Will Smith & Joel Edgerton star in Bright
Netflix vs Paramount
You may be wondering how different it must be for the cast to film for Netflix opposed to Paramount. Will Smith said at Comic-Con that “there is no real difference in shooting except that Netflix will just give you the money and let you go make the movie you want to make”.
Smith also spoke about the experience for fans, which will be different to your average $100M blockbuster movie. You’re no longer viewing a big film at the cinema but instead in the comfort of your own home. Some might agree that saving money on a cinema ticket is worth seeing this film on a smaller screen, so there’s always a bright side.
Who’s the Bad Guy?
The villain in this film appears to be a bright played by Noomi Rapace, who wants to use the wand for destruction. The wand was made by the super villain but when she pulled it from her body it got lost. That’s where Tikka comes in, as it lands in her hands. During the Comic-Con interview, Rapace stresses that in her eyes her character isn’t trying to be evil. Instead, “she was fighting for a better world” and “trying to create something beautiful but her method is quite vicious”.
Edgar Ramírez in Bright
This movie is set to be something that we’ve not seen before. From what the actors have said at Comic-Con, Bright is something that is realistic but also not. It’s about a world where humans and other creatures coexist. As David Ayer said: “This movie is about LA, but a fucked up LA, but our world is fucked up. This isn’t some bullshit, produced PG-13 shit movie.”
