A gritty buddy cop movie infused with the might and magic of the fantasy genre. Viewers are introduced to a world where humans exist alongside mythological creatures, magic, and races of beings straight from a Tolkien story in a modern day setting. The film finds strong leads in Will Smith and Joel Edgerton who play a human and the city's first orc cop respectively. Bright relies on the interspecies tension in the story to provide a surprisingly poignant critique of the current state of race relations. It gives the movie a little more depth than one might expect from such an odd concept. Mix that with David Ayer's strong direction, and you've gone one heck of an action-flick that manages to stand strong in the face of some plotting issues. The moment to moment action is fine. Reluctant partners Smith and Edgerton respond to a call that causes their night to spin wildly out of control when a powerful magical item is found on the scene. On top of being the center of a quest to resurrect a dark lord, there are also those who seek to use it for their own gain. As a result our leads find themselves hunted and on the run with no one to trust. That stuff is fine. The holes start appearing when you take a look at the larger scope of the world. The lore is sadly underdeveloped. There's talk of the characters being apart of some prophecy, but literally no insight as to what that prophecy says. The anti-orc sentiment that serves as the gateway to the movie's parable about racism is barely touched upon. Apparently there was some centuries old conflict that took place and the orcs picked the wrong side and now everybody hates them. Elves are somehow are at the top of the food chain, there are other factions existing in the world, and it apparently all ties into the main plot about the return of the dark lord. It's to kind of keep that stuff in the background I guess, but it still could have used some more fleshing out and needs to be in that sequel Netflix already ordered. It doesn't help that the few times it is brought up, there are a few plot holes. Bright still manages to entertain in spite of these storytelling woes due to the likability of it's leads. Will Smith might just be playing Will Smith once again, but his charm is still present as he always nails the wiseass characters. Edgerton steals the show as the well-meaning orc who just wants to be useful and find his place somewhere in life. The dialog is sharp and winning. Particularly during the funny parts. The action is brutal and satisfying. The shootouts are tense. The Suicide Squad director shows once again that he knows how to craft a fight sequence with or without guns, and even with some magic on the side. So overall I would this $90 million well-spent on Netflix's part. This is officially their most expensive film to date and I hope it works out for them. There's an originality applied to the standard cop movie tropes that makes for one highly entertaining movie. There's a lot of fun to be had here and I'm ready for the sequel.