History Film / Bright

* AlternateHistory: In this universe, humans have co-existed with fantastical creatures since the dawn of time and over two thousand years ago, a figure known as the Dark Lord nearly took over the world and it took the combined might of nine armies to bring him down. Apart from that major event, history seems to have mostly followed more or less the same path. UsefulNotes/TheAlamo and the [=LAPD's=] Rampart corruption scandal are specifically mentioned.

Instead of a theatrical release, the film is available on Creator/{{Netflix}} since December 2017. The trailer can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SRM1WpVEY4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SRM1WpVEY4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SRM1WpVEY4 here]].

Less than a month after its release, Netflix [[https://youtu.be/WoFqmF9GHWg confirmed that]] they are working on a sequel, making it the first movie franchise to ever be produced by and for a video-on-demand service.

** Serling claims that the only way to know if you're a Bright or not is to pick up a wand and see if you die or not. Presumably there are other means of detection, [[spoiler: as Ward's exceptional speed and skill when shooting seem to foreshadow his status (he never had any idea he was a Bright)]], but most people would never have access to them.

** Of [[Main/LordOfTheRings Legolas type]] super-elves. Turns out having a race of such beings in real life would be completely horrifying for a multitude of reasons: their incredible physical abilities make them nigh-impossible to kill (though it's unclear how much of the villains' martial prowess is pure elvishness and how much is their affiliation with the Inferni), their magical prowess makes the average one akin to a super-weapon if they get a [[ArtifactOfDoom Wand]], and their total superiority to all races makes them sociopathically immoral with the vast majority of them openly controlling society.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint:
** Jakoby tells Ward that the two of them may be in a prophecy. Ward scoffs at this, pointing out that they are actually in a stolen Toyota Corolla.
** Ward deliberately invokes this when Pollard tries to convince him to help steal the wand by claiming that among many other grantable wishes, you can go back in time and marry the girl who wouldn't blow you on prom night. Ward sarcastically replies that he and Pollard clearly experienced very different prom nights.

* ThereAreNoGlobalConsequences: Franchise/{{Shrek}} still exists in a world where fantasy creatures exist, LA (started by Catholic Missionaries) still exists in a world that should have wildly different religious beliefs, and the Crips still exist in a world where Orcs are the oppressed minority. Somewhat justified, as Deputy Rodriguez's comment about the Alamo and some lines by minor characters that include real racial slurs indicate that real-life racism exists alongside the [[FantasticRacism fantastic]] kind.

* SheFu: All elves who are shown fighting, many of them female, fight like they've got even more than [[TableTopGame/DungeonsAndDragons the normal +2 racial bonus to Dexterity]].

* SchmuckBait: The Magic Wand kills anyone who touches it if they're not a Bright (and it seems like the odds of being a Bright are one in a million or worse for humans). Naturally, the first thing anyone who sees it wants to do is try to pick it up, in the hope they might beat the odds and gain limitless power.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Ward and Jakoby have a pretty tense relationship from the get go, despite being Partners in the LAPD. Ward tolerates his presence, but holds some pretty deep racism against Orcs. However, as they work to survive the events of the film, signs of them beginning to trust and respect each other show through.

* PossessionImpliesMastery: Subverted with the wands. Though everyone wants to get their hands on one because they supposedly grant wishes, it's shown that the wand isn't much more than a pretty stick unless you actually know the spells which make it work. Tikka is only able to [[spoiler:raise Jakoby from the dead]] because that is one of the few spells she knows how to cast. In the climax, [[spoiler:Ward has no idea what to do with the wand when it doesn't immediately kill him. Jakoby suggests, "Uh, use it!" Ward replies, "[[SarcasmMode Oh, yeah, GREAT idea]]!" Then Tikka tells him the "[[StrippedToTheBone scorched bones]]" spell.]]

* CallingYourShots: Subverted by Ward after Jakoby [[spoiler: shoots the wand out of Leilah's hands with a ''shotgun''.]]
-->'''Ward''': [[spoiler: Nick, If you were aiming at the wand, that was a really good shot! But shoot her ''in her head!'']]

* SpiritualSuccessor: This series has many similarities with the cyberpunk Tabletop Game ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' and the 1988 sci-fi BuddyCopShow film ''Film/AlienNation''.

** Of [[Franchise/LordOfTheRings Legolas type]] super-elves. Turns out having a race of such beings in real life would be completely horrifying for a multitude of reasons: their incredible physical abilities make them nigh-impossible to kill (though it's unclear how much of the villains' martial prowess is pure elvishness and how much is their affiliation with the Inferni), their magical prowess makes the average one akin to a super-weapon if they get a [[ArtifactOfDoom Wand]], and their total superiority to all races makes them sociopathically immoral with the vast majority of them openly controlling society.

Less then a month after its release, Netflix [[https://youtu.be/WoFqmF9GHWg confirmed that]] they are working on a sequel, making it the first movie franchise to ever be produced by and for a video-on-demand service.

** Internal Affairs' plot to have Ward [[EngineeredPublicConfession tape Jakoby confessing]] to get him expelled from the police is never mentioned again.

* OurElvesAreBetter: Long-lived, supremacist snobs that live in gated communities and are considered the elite of society due to having the majority of Brights in the world. At first glance, they look just like normal humans with PointyEars, but upon closer inspection it turns out they have sharp teeth and eyes and hair of unnatural color, such as Kandomere's ''blue'' hair while Tikka, Leila and Tien has silver hair.
* OurMagesAreDifferent: A "Bright" is a person born with an affinity for magic, and can freely handle wands without exploding (which happens to everyone else who tries). Almost all Brights are elves, which has lead to their species winding up in positions of power, though it is mentioned a very small number of humans ("one-in-a-million") are also Brights. [[spoiler: Near the end of the movie, Ward is revealed to be a Bright, as he handles a wand without exploding, and even manages to cast a spell.]]
* OurOrcsAreDifferent: Overall, Orcs are pretty normal people for all of their racial differences. They maintain some vestiges of being a ProudWarriorRace, with the idea of being "blooded" having a central role in their society. They have intelligence roughly on par with humans, though they're stereotyped as dumb, and Jakoby is frequently shown to be very slow on the uptake. They are apparently larger, heavier, stronger (one orc is shown fairly casually lifting the front end of a pickup truck so a child can retrieve a soccer ball from beneath it) and slower the humans on average (an IA detective mentions that this is why most NFL linemen are orcs, but there are no orcs in the NBA), and Jakoby exhibits some extraordinary toughness. They are extremely clannish and generally discriminated against by other races making them second-class citizens in the wider society.

** Two thousand years ago, the Dark Lord lead an army of orcs in an attempt to conquer the world. Jirak was one of the few orcs who opposed him, and eventually wound up leading an army of nine races against him. This is curiously ignored by the other races, however, given how they seem to unanimously hate all orcs regardless.

* VillainousBreakdown: For most of the movie, Leilah has been TheStoic and very rarely shows any emotion. And then during the climax, [[spoiler:she tries to bring Tikka back to the Inferni, but she refuses preferring to die than return to her. At this point, Leilah starts ranting and screaming angrily at Ward for having "corrupted" her sister. She also shows [[ThisCannotBe complete disbelief]] when Ward is revealed to be a Bright]].
* VillainousRescue: The heroes are cornered in the strip club by the Altamira GangBangers who are heavily armed and outnumber them then just as Ward and Jakoby are preparing to go down guns blazing, the Inferni charge in and slaughter the gangsters.

* WouldHurtAChild: Leilah and her cronies wipe out an entire family after questioning them to clean up any witnesses. ''Including their infant child.''

** If he did come back, he would most likely command an army with comparable modern armament that could easily match the US military. Given that he’s an {{Expy}} of Sauron, no matter how many casualties his forces were to take take, the Dark Lord himself would be vulnerable only to weaponized magic and lots of it.

* GrenadeTag: Jakoby deals with one of Leilah's minions by sticking a bomb in her waistband, then shoving her out a window before Ward triggers it.

* GreaterScopeVillain: The Dark Lord. He is responsible for the racism that modern orcs face today since many of their ancestors chose to fight for him, which led to many of them being hated and discriminated by everyone else. He is long dead by the time the movie takes place, but many people such as the Shield of Light fear his return, since it's believed that not even tanks and drones could be able to bring him down.

* AlienArtsAreAppreciated: Orcish music sounds like heavy metal music, even their love songs. Nick tries to play some in the radio to bond with Ward, but he doesn't want to hear any of it. Later, orcs are seen in a violent thrash metal club, but are calm and relaxed [[CrowningMomentOfFunny as if they were in a smokey and romantic jazz/blues club]].

Less then a month after its release, Netflix [[https://youtu.be/WoFqmF9GHWg confirmed that]] they are working on a sequel, making it the first movie franchise to ever be produced by and for a streaming service.