David Ayerhas enjoyed a remarkable career, but one movie remains a challenging aspect of his legacy. The director began his career as a writer for the submarine movieU-571(2000), and he quickly found his way to multiple popular productions. He wrote forThe Fast and the Furious(2001),Training Day(2001), andS.W.A.T.(2003), earning success for each release. Eventually, he attracted attention and earned a role as the director ofHarsh Times(2005). The extremely small-scale production had a $2 million budget and easily earned success with its $6 million box office total.
Having proven himself,Ayer went on to be a Hollywood regular. He directed 2014’sFury,2016’sSuicide Squadforthe DC Extended Universe, and 2024’sThe Beekeeper. WhileSuicide Squadfailed to entertain critics, it was his biggest success, earning $749 million on a budget of $175 million. It proved that he could handle big-budget releases, even if these franchise movies might not wholly satisfy audiences. In 2017, however, Ayer directed a critically panned Netflix movie.
Ayer Is Still Defending Bright
Bright Was A Critical Disaster
Ayer’sBrightcould have easily been a success. The project attractedWill Smith (Men in Black) and Joel Edgerton (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith)as its leading men. The two would play police officers in a world of magical creatures in a modern urban environment. Smith played a traditional cop, while Edgerton took the role of the first Orc officer. With a budget of over $90 million, the movie was eventually released on Netflix, where it was attacked by critics.Bright’s poor reviewsmeant a 26% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Suicide Squad, which also starred Will Smith, earned the same disappointing 26% Tomatometer score asBright.
To this day, however,Ayercontinues to defend the project. Calling it a “big swing”, Ayer took to X/Twitter to explain that the movie still did “work for a lot of people”. His comments came in response to a now-deleted post that criticized his release. Check out his post below:
WhileBrightis not one ofWill Smith’s best movies, Ayer still praised his performance and that of the rest of the cast. Ayer believes that theworld-building was the most difficult aspectthat led to its critical disappointment, though he personally prefers worlds that are more “grounded” in reality.
Our Take On Bright’s Legacy
The Movie Remains Divisive
WhileBrightsuffered a thrashing from critics, it did earn praise from audiences. It brought in an83% Popcornmeter scorewith an average rating of 4.1 out of 5. That is genuinely impressive. While the professional reviewers bashed its lack of imagination or uniqueness, the general audience enjoyed Smith’s dynamic with Edgerton. The action scenes, too, earned notable praise. While none pretend that the movie is an Academy Award nominee, they still enjoyed it. Ayer is completely correct that it worked for many viewers and continues to even today.
Bright
Cast
In an alternate Los Angeles, mystical creatures live side by side with humans. When police officer Daryl Ward is partnered with the division’s first Orc officer, the two must overcome the racism and police corruption in their way, in order to stop a magical artifact and mythical figure from wreaking havoc in the city.
