Monday Movie Mania - Bright

After nagging from friends and Genius Kid, we signed up for Netflix. The first thing I watched on our new account was Bright, an urban fantasy, buddy cop flick with Will Smith. If you've watched the James Caan/Mandy Patinkin sf film Alien Nation, you've got the gist of the plot.


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SPOILERS


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PROS
1) Will Smith and Joel Edgarton's onscreen chemistry.

2) Smith has gone from the brash rookie to the world-weary, marginally corrupt vet, and he makes it work.

3) The elves taking over Beverly Hills was pretty funny.


CONS
1) The pacing is off. This feels like a one-hour TV pilot that was padded out to make a feature-length film.

2) The writers were a little too heavy-handed with the social commentary. Comment is fine, but they turned it into an entire sermon.

3) Too many of the buddy cop clichés made it predictable. I would have been happy with one or two surprises.


Overall, it was a decent bit of weekend fluff, Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Alien Nation, I don't think concept will be fully realized unless/until it goes to series. I give Bright 7 stars out 10.