It's almost overlooked at this point that he was once the biggest and most popular movie star in America, especially now that it seems he can do no right by critics or audiences.
His new film -- Bright -- is a big budget extravaganza and also a Netflix film, which already makes it an odd property. Critical reviews have been especially harsh on not just the film but the company that released it, suggesting that the streaming service is not ready for prime time and that this film proves it.
While I am not going to argue that Bright is great, or even good -- I will say it has a promising start and premise. It's a blend of the kind of mismatched cop dramas that its director David Ayer made his name on (he wrote Training Day and directed End of Watch) and the world of fantasy and special effects which he has dabbled in more recently (he also directed the woefully awful Suicide Squad).
Buried under the noise and dark hued palette of this movie is some attempts to introduce some social commentary on race and profiling which has potential. In this scenario Smith is the slightly bigoted veteran who is teamed up with an orc, played incredibly well and sympathetically by Joel Edgerton under so much make-up (which is very well done) he is totally unrecognizable save for his distinctly sincere voice.
I like that this movie presents the world of orcs, fairies and elves integrated into modern Los Angeles matter-of-factly and without a lot of explanation -- that's fine -- but unfortunately about halfway through it gives up on developing its characters and instead plunges headfirst into an increasingly convoluted series of action set pieces involving a wand and magical powers.
None of this is as infuriatingly bad as Suicide Squad -- there is at least some attempt to do basic storytelling here -- but I think part of what irks more discerning viewers is the fact that the substance of this movie feels like window dressing for the eventual bloodshed and mayhem.
It starts out with a little bit of a sense of fun but ends on a dreary note that seems to serve as a jumping off point for further Bright films instead of a satisfying arc.
It was interesting watching this movie in the context of having attended a screening of Hook earlier that day. That 1991 film was another expensive, critically panned movie that has been historically viewed as a misfire, but has many dedicated fans and I count myself among them.
Clearly, a lot of Hook doesn't work. It may be Spielberg's sweatiest film when it comes to sentimentality and it goes on way, way too long. But you can feel a sure hand guiding the narrative, it hits its themes well, it's funny, and when it ends it feels like a satisfying loop has been closed.
In other words, the movie does what it was intended to do. And clearly, for some people, Bright hits their sweet spot. I can even imagine a 13-year-old me really liking it, although I have never really been a passionate fan of the fantasy genre.
I definitely don't think it stands as a cinematic low point the way some critics are treating it. It certainly could have used a director with more vision and subtlety. A lot of the humor is low rent and the color palette is maddeningly dark and grey.
Still, I appreciate that Will Smith is trying to loosen up a little and have some fun again on screen. In movies like Suicide Squad he was being reined in and turned into a dour, monosyllabic tough guy, and one of the reasons audiences fell in love with him in the first place was his light touch and self deprecation.
Obviously, I think he deserves better material than this -- but this is disposable trash, not the bane of anyone's existence. And while some may think the cost of this trash is obscene, it wasn't your money that paid for it.
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