Bright Review by Eugene Alejandro

Bright is a Netflix-Original movie directed and produced by David Ayer, and written by Max Landis. It (primarily) stars Will Smith, Joel Edgerton, and Noomi Rapace.

Bright takes place in an alternate version of the planet Earth where Humans, Elves, and Orcs all exist together, but are separated from each other by how they live. Elves are upper-class, humans are middle-class, and orcs are lower-class.

The main plot in Bright is that two police officers named Daryl Ward, and Nick Jakoby end up getting involved with a plot by a group evil Elves who want to bring back the “Dark Lord” because a female who betrayed has a powerful wand that the evil Elves want to use in order to achieve their goal.

When this movie first got released on Netflix, it was met with a lot of negative reviews from critics. Because of this, I’ll admit that I was somewhat hesitant to give this movie a watch, but after seeing it, I am honestly surprised at how good it actually turned out to be in my opinion.

Now I want to quickly clarify that in no way am I saying that this is an amazing and/or spectacular movie in this review. All I’m saying is that in my own opinion, I found this movie to be enjoyable. Also, this review is NOT meant to be a personal attack on the critics who gave this film negative reviews.

The biggest aspect in Bright that I really liked was the unique and fascinating premise which involved combining fantasy with the real world. And in my opinion, it was executed very well.

Bright doesn’t use too much CGI as a majority of the special effects are made using practical makeup, and they actually look amazing enough to help the Elves and Orcs look real enough to actually exist in the real world.

The acting in this film is pretty solid with Will Smith in particular delivering a fun and entertaining performance that fits his character for all the right reasons.

The two biggest nitpicks that I have with Bright are that (in my opinion) the story was nothing too very special at all. It wasn’t bad, but I only wish that it was something much better because of its premise. The second nitpick of mine with this film is that I felt that the F-word was said way too much in an attempt to prove that this movie is rated-R. I honestly don’t have an issue with foul language just as long as it fits, but this movie I felt used the F-word more than it had to.

So while I can understand why Bright isn’t for everybody, I still found the movie entertaining for what it was, and I am glad that I saw it.

Overall, Bright gets a 4/5 stars, and a two thumbs up by me.

Trollhunters Part 2 Review by Eugene Alejandro

In memory of Anton Yelchin (1989-2016)

Trollhunters Part 2 is the second season in the Trollhunters animated series which is created by Guillermo del Toro, made by Dreamworks Animation, and officially streamed on Netflix.

As with how I reviewed Trollhunters Part 1, I will only be reviewing Trollhunters Part 2 as only a show because I have not read any of the books it is adapted from. Also, unlike the first season which consisted of 26 episodes, the second season (which I am reviewing right now) only has 13 episodes. I only wanted to mention that last part because in case anybody who is subscribed to Netflix and has this show on their list should be aware of that fact.

Without going into any spoilers for this review, Trollhunters Part 2 does a very good job at being a solid continuation of Trollhunters Part 1, but what I think (in my opinion) makes this second season even better in terms of how its written is how it handles plot twists, and character development. The plot twists in particular caught me off guard as I never expected or predicated them in the slightest.

As with the Trollhunters Part 1, the animation continues to still be amazing in Trollhunters Part 2. While there isn’t much of a difference in regards to how the animation looks for this season compared to the previous one, the animation is still made very well and shows how much money and effort went into it.

The voice acting is also still very good with each voice actor perfectly fitting their characters and delivering the lines very well. I was most surprised by how Anton’s Yelchin’s voice was still kept for this season, but I overall, found his voice acting performance to still be very good like it was in Trollhunters Part 1.

If you are somebody who really enjoys Trollhunters like I do, I can most certainly recommend watching this second season as it is a excellent continuation of the previous season, and show as a whole works very well at entertaining both children, and adults.

I give Trollhunters Part 2 Two Thumbs Up, and 5/5 Stars.

Trollhunters Part 1 Review by Eugene Alejandro

In Memory of Anton Yelchin (1989-2016)

Before I start my review of Trollhunters Part 1, I really want to clarify that I have not read the show is adapted from. So this review for Trollhunters Part 1 will only be me reviewing it as just a show. I also want to mention that Trollhunters Part 1 is a Netflix Original Show, so the only way you can watch it is by subscribing to Netflix. With all that said, on to the review.

Trollhunters Part 1 is an animated series from Dreamworks, and is created by Guillermo del Toro. The plot is about a young boy named Jim (voiced by Anton Yelchin) who is chosen to be the very first human “Trollhunter” a task that has protect good Trolls against evil Trolls. There is much more to the story than what I just said, but I don’t wanna say it because that would just be me spoiling the entire show (which is that I don’t want to do).

For a show that is 26 episodes long, it mangages to work very well with that pace thanks to the wonderful and clever writing it has. When it has be serious, it works. When it’s trying to be light-hearted in some moments, it works as well. Top it all off with a cast of characters that are very well-written, and well-developed.

The animation is really spectacular and solid, and surprisingly looks a little bit theatrical (must be because a lot of money was put into the animation). The animation regarding the character’s movements is also very well done and helps the characters look alive. The backgrounds are also great to look at.

The voice acting in Trollhunters Part 1 is very good and it helps the characters feel very alive. Anton Yelchin also did a very good job in voicing a 15-16 year old male character as he sounds very confincing as a character of those ages. The rest of the voice actors also do well with their performances.

I WILL NOT spoil how the entire show ends, but let me just say it the ending really does demand that Part 2 get made already.

As a show, Trollhunters Part 1 succeeds in being both entertaining for children and adults, and I easily recommend it to anyone who is currently subscribed to Netflix.

I give Trollhunters Part 1 5/5 Stars, and Two Thumbs Up.