In Los Angeles, humans live with orcs and elves in a world where fantasy creatures do exist. LAPD police officer Dayl Ward is the first human cop having the orc police officer Nick Jakoby as a partner. When Ward is shot by an orc and Jakoby does not capture the shooter, he questions whether Jakoby lets the fellow orc escape. During a patrol, Ward and Jakoby arrest a man that tells that there is a prophecy and Ward is blessed.
Meanwhile, Internal Affairs press Ward to find the truth about the escape of the shooter so that they can fire Jakoby. The magic department of the FBI interrogates the man that belongs to the terrorist Shield of Light group which protects brights so that they can prepare for the return of the Dark Lord that will destroy the world.
Ward and Jakoby are summoned to attend a disturbance and they stumble upon a Shield of Light safe-house where they arrest the elf Tikka and bag her magic wand. Soon they learn that Tikka is hunted down by the evil and powerful rogue elf Leilah and her Terrorist group Inferni which are the ones actually trying to resurrect the dark lord and they need to protect Tikka and the wand; otherwise the world will be destroyed. What will they do?
Bright is a 2017 American urban fantasy crime film directed by David Ayer and written by Max Landis. The film stars Will Smith as a Los Angeles Police Department police officer who teams up with an orc rookie police officer (Joel Edgerton) in a world of both human and mythical creatures. It also stars Noomi Rapace, Lucy Fry, Édgar Ramírez and Ike Barinholtz.
Principal photography began in November 2016 in Los Angeles. The film was released worldwide on Netflix on December 22, 2017, and became one of the site’s most streamed programs ever, although it received negative reviews from critics.
About the Story
In an alternate present, humans live in uneasy peace with orcs, elves, centaurs, dwarves and other races after they fought for thousands of years. In Los Angeles, veteran LAPD police officer Daryl Ward has been involuntarily partnered with Nick Jakoby, the nation’s first orcish police officer. Jakoby is faced with prejudice by humans for his race, and by orcs for his position as an officer.
In addition to the pushback from other officers, Ward is ambivalent towards him after an incident where Ward was nearly killed by a shotgun-wielding orc and Jakoby had apparently let the assailant get away. While driving back to the station, a previously detained Shield of Light devotee tells Jakoby in Orcish that both officers are in a prophecy and that Ward is blessed. While Jakoby is booking the devotee, Ward is approached by Internal Affairs who say they believe that Jakoby put his racial loyalties before his partner in allowing the orc assailant to get away. Ward is pressured to try to have Jakoby confess on tape so they will have publicly acceptable grounds for a firing.
That night, Ward and Jakoby respond to a disturbance at what turns out to be a Shield of Light safe house; inside are a number of corpses, and also the still-living torso of an elf woman embedded in a wall. They apprehend the lone unhurt survivor, a young elf named Tikka in possession of a legendary magic wand. As Jakoby puts it, a wand is like “a nuclear weapon that grants wishes”, and can only be commanded by a ‘Bright’ – a person with the rare ability to use magic. If a non-Bright touches a wand, they will explode from the raw magical power.
When four officers arrive as backup, their racial prejudice cause them to try and coerce Ward into killing Jakoby, telling Ward he will be spared in return and allowing them to steal the wand. Ward goes outside to Jakoby, holds him at gunpoint, and begins questioning him about the orc that had shot him. Jakoby admits to letting the suspect escape, though the reason being was that he had mistakenly cornered the wrong suspect.
Jakoby had lost the original orc in the crowd and had instead caught up with a young orc who was spray painting a wall, not the orc who had tried to kill Ward. He realized that the responding officers would most likely kill any orc suspect on sight, thinking they were the one responsible. During this confrontation, the four officers plan on killing Ward after he kills Jakoby. Ward, at the last second, decides to gun down all of the corrupt officers. The incident, however, attracts the attention of the local human gang Altamira, and the two flee, under heavy fire, with Tikka and the wand. Leilah, a member of the Inferni and owner of the wand, arrives at the safehouse minutes later, searching for the wand and Tikka.
After a pursuit, the trio flee through the territory of the Fogteeth Orc clan, causing a violent confrontation between the gang and the clan. Finally cornered in a strip club, the gang’s leader, Poison, wanting to regain the use of his legs, threatens to burn the building down unless the officers give up the wand. As Jakoby and Ward pull out their weapons to give a final stand, the Inferni appear and the ensuing fight gives the trio the opportunity to escape again.
Going to ground in a service station, Ward contacts his friend, Sheriff Deputy Rodriguez, who he hopes will help them in protecting the wand. Rodriguez contacts Kandomere, an elf working for the federal ‘Magic Task Force’; dedicated to securing, containing and protecting magical objects. Kandomere tells Ward that he will be safe from prosecution for killing his fellow police officers, if they can keep the wand out of wrong hands. Before Rodriguez can bring them in, Leilah’s henchmen attack the trio, killing him.
Bright (2017)
Directed by: David Ayer
Starring: Will Smith, Joel Edgerton, Noomi Rapace, Edgar Ramírez, Lucy Fry, Veronica Ngo, Alex Meraz, Happy Anderson, Ike Barinholtz, Dawn Olivieri, Margaret Cho, Brad William Henke, Joseph Piccuirro
Screenplay by: Max Landis
Production Design by: Andrew Menzies
Cinematography by: Roman Vasyanov
Film Editing by: Aaron Brock, Geoffrey O’Brien, Michael Tronick
Costume Design by: Kelli Jones
Set Decoration by: Cynthia La Jeunesse
Art Direction by: Christopher Brown, Kasra Farahani, Bradley Rubin
Music by: David Sardy
Distributed by: Netflix
Release Date: December 22, 2017
