The trailer for Netflix’s Will Smith movie is here, and it’s got everything you need — magic, elves, and Shrek jokes
Netflix’s foray into original content has been gift after gift. Now the trailer for Netflix’s Will Smith movie is here, and it’s got everything. Everything.
Bright premieres on Dec. 22, but it’s not a Christmas film.
The trailer is also certainly not family-friendly. It’s not even safe to watch at work without headphones! It’s a gritty cop drama, a fantasy film, and action-comedy, Bright is easily one of the year’s most unique original movies. The unusual action-comedy is like a showcase for everything Will Smith does best. He gets to play a tough-talking cop, a quippy action hero, and step to non-human creatures in the process. It’s like if Men in Black were R-rated, darker, stranger, and had a socially awkward ogre in the role of Tommy Lee Jones.
In Bright, ogres, elves, and similar magical beings peacefully coexist with humans.
The trailer is straightforward in its presentation. Netflix doesn’t try to set a scene, or explain how multiple human-adjacent species become part of the world. Apart from glimpses of elf-friendly signage, and a brief “He’s the first ogre cop” voiceover, the viewer is simply thrust into the world of Bright. It’s probably better that way; lengthy explainers are tiring, and the world of Bright is a weird one.
The Netflix original looks like the most serious flick to incorporate a glowing magic wand in some time. Bright doesn’t clearly fall into one category; it’s not exactly science fiction, or fantasy, or a drama. It’s all of these things, and something new altogether. It’s one of Netflix’s most ambitious and visually-stunning originals to date. Also, Will Smith makes a joke about dying in a shootout at a strip club. Again, that Christmas release date does not make it a family-friendly film. Even with a Shrek joke.
