Whether he's opposite Martin Lawrence in a Bad Boys flick, investigating alien incidents in Men in Black, or hunting down mystical weapons with an orc, Will Smith knows how to play a world-weary lawman.

PCMag snagged an invitation to a screening of Smith's latest movie, Bright, which premieres globally on Netflix (and in select theaters) on Friday. Smith plays Daryl Ward, a surly LAPD cop just five years away from retirement—who just happens to livealongside fairies, orcs, and all manner of other magical creatures. But life itself is not so magical; Ward is just trying to survive long enough to draw a pension.

Not Your Average Cop Flick

At first glance, Bright appears to be this generation's answer to Lethal Weapon: a classic cop movie with tons of blood-spattered action and snappy dialogue. There's even a rookie sidekick, Nick Jacoby, who needs to prove himself to Ward and the other LAPD officers. But once you see the Los Angeles skyline pocked with futuristic skyscrapers as Smith walks past gangs of fairies, elves, and orcs in the middle of a racially charged turf war, it's clear this is not your average cop movie.

Written by Max Landis (American Ultra) and directed by David Ayer (End of Watch, Suicide Squad), Bright also stars Joel Edgerton as his orc partner, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's Noomi Rapace, Edgar Ramirez, Lucy Fry, and a feisty cameo from comedian Margaret Cho.

(Smith and Edgerton. Credit: Netflix)

Here's a brief, mostly spoiler-free synopsis:

On a routine night patrol, Ward and Jacoby's unit gets called to a crime scene. There's blood everywhere (this movie is not for the squeamish) and a renegade elf played by Rapace goes on the run in search of vengeance and a whole lot more blood. As you might expect, there are also a lot of dark forces at play that threaten to open up a veil between worlds.

When things get out of hand, the feds are called in. But this being an alternate fantasy version of L.A., Bright's version of the Ministry of Magic comes to town headed by a special forces investigator played by Edgar Ramirez, and then the blood-soaked plot really takes off. Adding to the feeling of general unease, this dark version of L.A. evokes a grimy, rain-soaked atmosphere that may well be a homage to Blade Runner.

The film is confusing at times given the considerable body count and the mythic sub-plot, but Smith and Edgerton's witty human-orc banter keeps the pace buzzing.

Now You're Speaking Our Language

Bright creates a world where elves, fairies, humans, and orcs all have their own distinct cultures throughout L.A. As such, the film pays proper geek-level attention to building a unique vernacular for the non-human Angelenos.

The fim's level of linguistic authenticity rivals that of Game of Thrones, and in fact was developed by the same constructed language (conlang) expert, David J. Peterson. PCMag interviewed Peterson last year to break down the show's Dothraki language, and we exchanged a few emails to get the backstory about Bright.

PCMag: When did you get the call from Bright's production team?

David J. Peterson: Back in July of 2016 I was contacted by Adam Merims, executive producer on Bright, to create languages for the orcs and elves in the film. I had a call with [director] David Ayer explaining the backstory of the film, and the complex history of our world in the Bright universe, and then set to work.

PCMag: How did you go about creating the languages?

DJP: Both languages [were] original. The language of the elves, which would come to be called Övüsi, was insular and had resisted "contamination"—from the point of view of the elves—from other languages on Earth. The Elvish language is written in its own unique script. On the other hand, the orcish language, later called Bodzvokhan, would have a lot of borrowings from Russian due to the orcs' [fabricated] history. Most came originally from the Pripet Marshes, before coming to America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. For a while, the orcs' language was written in the Cyrillic alphabet, before they emigrated and reclaimed their own much older script.

PCMag: The movie appears to be faithful to the languages you created, right down to signage in different parts of the fictional city.

DJP: Right. Once I'd created the languages, I translated all the dialogue in the film and then worked directly with the art department to create signage. They did amazing things with the scripts, and also took my original fonts and created brand new font faces for them that looked gorgeous. They did tremendous work!

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(Lucy Fry's elf character, Tikka. Credit: Netflix)

PCMag: Unlike Game of Thrones, which is shot in Ireland, Bright is closer to home for you. Did that mean you were on set?

DJP: Working on Bright was fun for me, because the entire film was shot in Los Angeles, which is about 30 minutes from my home. After all these years, [this is] the first time I've worked on something that shot in L.A. I was on set for the first day of shooting, the last day of shooting, and most days in between.

I'd worked with most the actors beforehand so they weren't going into shooting cold, but I was also there on set in case they needed me. It was always wild being on set, because often when David Ayer would see me, he'd come up with some idea for a new way to use the languages. He'd come up to me and ask me to translate something he'd just written on a scrap of paper for a scene we were shooting the next day, or even changes to a line that was shooting right that moment. It was fun, but kept me and the actors on our toes.

PCMag: Any standout performances, for you?

DJP: Lucy Fry, in particular, was unbelievable. I never saw her make a mistake or forget an elvish line. I think it was a big help to the actors to have me there on set. I was there to go over their lines beforehand, and give them notes between takes. It shows in the performance, in their level of confidence with the material.

PCMag: Thanks for giving us an insight into working on Bright. It was a pleasure to talk to you again.

DJP: Bright was truly a labor of love. David Ayer and the rest of the crew had a lot of confidence in me; it was a great environment.