The action, fantasy pic directed by David Ayer is slammed as 'embarrassing,' a 'disaster' and 'a mess' by critics.
- Dec 21, 2017
AceShowbiz - "Bright" apparently doesn't live up to the expectations despite Netflix's high hope for the film starring Will Smith. The streaming giant has already ordered a sequel to the action, fantasy pic from director David Ayer before its scheduled release on December 22, but the first installment itself doesn't receive much love from critics.
According to Bloomberg, Smith is set to return for the sequel. Netflix is looking to compete with big studios with its first attempt at a big-budget Hollywood production and to show its commitment, the company has reportedly ordered a sequel with Smith signed on.
But if viewers' taste echoes critics' reviews, Netflix won't achieve that goal anytime soon, at least not with "Bright". The movie has received mostly bad reviews, with The Wrap's Todd Gilchrist saying it's "astoundingly bad in virtually every way." He adds, " 'Bright' shares in common several of the shortcomings of Ayer's previous film ['Suicide Squad'], including conspicuous evidence of desperate efforts to cobble its under-explained and yet somehow overcomplicated mythology into something coherent."
John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter calls it "plenty embarrassing" and says "its potential as a franchise-starter is laughably small." David Ehrlich of IndieWire describes "Bright" as "a movie so profoundly awful that Republicans will probably try to pass it into law over Christmas break." Collider's Vinnie Mancuso calls it "a shame, because the plot is actually a simple bit of fun buried beneath a heavy dose of explanation."
Variety's Peter Debrudge, however, begs to differ. Dubbing it "the best Netflix original movie to date," he writes that the movie "fills an intense, grown-up movie niche that Hollywood once did so well, but has since replaced with formula-driven product."
Netflix has not officially announced a "Bright" sequel, so that may change if the movie also receives lukewarm responses from viewers.
