Bright review – Will Smith's sci-fi is a true original ... for better or worse

It’s not often you see a movie with a truly original premise, or even a truly original combination of other movie premises, so Bright’s high concept certainly grabs the attention: fantasy creatures, such as orcs and elves, living alongside humans in modern-day Los Angeles. The elevator pitch would be something like “Middle Earth meets District 9 meets End of Watch”. And if that sounds like an impossible genre clash to reconcile, Netflix’s frenetic sci-fi-buddy-cop-fantasy-comedy-thriller deserves credit for ramming its way through, regardless.

The ethnic boundaries of this alternative metropolis are quickly sketched out. Orcs are the underclass – deprived and discriminated against (a reference to “Orc lives matter” drives the point home). Elves are the elite, though we only visit their glitzy, exclusive neighbourhood briefly. Humans are somewhere in the middle, doing the ordinary jobs and directing their prejudices at the other species rather than each other (the cast is commendably multiracial). Quite where the centaur traffic cops fit in is never explained, but it’s a nice detail.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the LAPD, which honours the Hollywood tradition of assigning chalk-and-cheese partners to the beat. Thus Will Smith’s Ward – grouchy, sharp-tongued but essentially decent – is paired with Nick Jakoby, the first ever orc cop, who’s ostracised by his own kind but mistrusted by humans, including, of course, his partner. The credits tell you Jakoby is played by Joel Edgerton but you’d never know, under the blotchy face makeup, contact lenses and twitching pointy ears.

The plot has grand ambitions in store for the partners. They unintentionally obtain an all-important magic wand, which is “like a nuclear weapon that grants wishes”. They rescue a mysterious elf waif (Lucy Fry), who’s also important, but has very little to do but look waif-life and make the odd acrobatic combat intervention – she’s a little like Milla Jovovich in the Fifth Element, except with fewer lines. In pursuit of them and the wand, across the rainy, gloomy night, are evil elves, corrupt cops, and local gangs both orc and human. There’s mention of “a Dark Lord” and “a prophecy”, not to mention the concept of “brights” themselves. So much to explain; so little time to explain it.

Director David Ayer has form in this area, having written Training Day and End of Watch (two buddy cop thrillers), and directed the recent Suicide Squad. He’s fond of macho, hard-hitting action: cartridge-showering shootouts; careering car chases; crunching hand-to-hand combat. Some of it is exhilarating; some of it is borderline incomprehensible owing to mistimed editing and a terminally gloomy palette. The pace barely lets up, but sometimes you wish it would.

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 humour and irony, but can detect “physical tells” humans don’t realise they’re making. Edgerton correctly identifies Smith’s facial expression as “human who needs a lot more conjugal love”.

I’d have been happy to ride around with these cops on a day where nothing much happened at all, or to see that centaur traffic cop putting his hooves up at home – maybe next time. And hopefully there will be a next time. For all its flaws, Bright is still a headlong leap into a bracingly different new world. Cinema could do with more of that.