Released: March 2020
Director: David S.F Wilson
Rated PG-13
Run Time: 109 Minutes
Distributor: Sony/Columbia
Genre: Action/Science Fiction
Cast:
Vin Diesel: Ray Garrison/Bloodshot
Guy Pearce: Dr. Emil Harting
Eiza Gonzalez: KT
Sam Heughan: Jimmy Dalton
Toby Kebbell: Martin Axe
Talulah Riley: Gina Garrison
Lamorne Morris: Wilfred Wigans
Movies based on comic books have been around for decades, going all the way back to the 40s and 50s. But the genre started being taken a bit more seriously when Superman: The Movie was released in 1978. It was one of the biggest movies of that decade and is widely regarded as one of the best, if not THE best comic book movie ever made. A decade later and we get Tim Burton’s Batman in 1989, which was another massive hit for Warner Bros. But the sequels to both films kept getting worse. 1997 saw the release of the live-action version of Spawn, which was not well-received and Batman and Robin in the same year. That would’ve been the end of the genre if it wasn’t for 1998’s Blade, based on the Marvel character of the same name. It wouldn’t be until 2000’s X-Men, that the genre would see a brand-new lease on life. Since then, the genre has flourished, despite a few misses here and there. So, imagine my surprise when it was revealed that a movie based on Valiant Comics’ Bloodshot would be made. I’m not really a comic book reader, but I had heard of the character, but knew very little about him or the universe that he inhabits. When Vin Diesel got involved, I started to pay attention and……..let’s just say that the final product was…not awful, but not great, either.
Bloodshot follows Ray Garrison, a special forces soldier as he rescues a hostage from a group of jihadists. After a successful mission, Ray heads to Italy with his wife Gina to spend time together. Waking up, Ray and his wife are kidnapped, tortured and killed by a man named Martin Axe. Some time later, Ray wakes up on a medical table with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He meets Dr. Emil Harting, the head of a bio-mechanical company that augments wounded soldiers with advanced technology. When he realizes that he’s being manipulated by the people that brought him back to life, he decides to fight back. Does this story sound familiar? Anyone? No? Well, it reminds me too much of 1992’s Universal Soldier. I don’t think that was the intention here, but that’s how I see it. It’s not the worst story ever. I don’t claim to be the smartest man on the planet, but I do know that people are pretty much getting sick and tired of origin stories. That being said, the character of Bloodshot is not one that your average film-goer would have heard of, so an origin story makes sense in this case. I’ve seen worse.
I’m not going to sugarcoat this: Vin Diesel is NOT a world-class thespian. He never has been. I’m not saying that he doesn’t have range, he does. He’s had some really great roles over the years: Groot, Dominic Toretto, Xander Cage, and the role that put him on the map: Richard B. Riddick from the Pitch Black films. The thing is, most of those characters are muscled bad-asses. He’s really good at that and he’s fun to watch, but when it comes to really quiet and emotional stuff, he just doesn’t have it. That being said, his performance in Bloodshot is one of his better performances. He absolutely embraces that rage-filled, testosterone-driven alpha male, and that kind of thing works here. He’s also bolstered by a pretty decent supporting cast which includes the incredible Guy Pearce as Dr. Harting. No matter what he does, I’m always glued to the screen when Pearce is center-stage. He’s really good, but I’m not entirely sure that the character of Harting fits him. Eiza Gonzalez plays KT, one of the other augmented soldiers previously wounded in battle. She’s alright, but there’s not a whole lot there to dig into. Toby Kebbell makes a pretty entertaining appearance as Martin Axe, and I have to say, I’ve quickly become a huge fan of Kebbell’s. He’s so much fun to watch. The only other actor of note is Lamorne Morris as Wilfred Wigans. This guy is the comic relief in the film and he’s pretty damn funny. I think his character’s got more charisma than anyone else in the film. It’s a superhero movie, don’t expect anything Oscar-worthy, but at least it’s not Superman IV-bad.
While I certainly think that Bloodshot is smarter than your average superhero movie, it’s let down a bit by the bog-standard action. Outside of a couple of set-pieces, there’s nothing here that you haven’t seen before. I will say, though, that the sequence in the tunnel is one of the coolest sequences in the film as we see what Ray Garrison is truly capable of. Not only does he heal instantly because of his nanite-infused blood, but he also has super-strength. He’s basically throwing people around like rag dolls and kicking trucks out of the way. It’s fun, make no mistake about it, but nothing else in the movie rises to that level, and it’s a shame, there’s a lot of potential for a character like this to take the genre in a different direction. It’s too bad that the film-makers weren’t taking enough risks. It’s also a pretty violent movie, despite it’s PG-13 rating. Ray gets half has face blown off in the tunnel and that’s pretty gruesome, but it also shows how much you can get away with when it comes to PG-13. Still, the action falls short even for a Vin Diesel-led film. It’s not the worst way to spend two hours, but there are better action movies out there.
That all brings me to the biggest problem facing Bloodshot and any future entries in the universe: It won’t happen. While the marketing was a bit of an issue, the problems surrounding the film’s release really aren’t anybody’s fault. Nobody was anticipating a global pandemic that we currently find ourselves in. As a result, Bloodshot was one of the last films to be released in theaters for the next few months. It didn’t even survive a month in theaters before being thrown onto video-on-demand. This was a low-budget film at 45 million bucks, but it barely made a little over half of that back, resulting in a financial failure for the film. Again, I don’t think there’s a lot of people that you can blame for what happened here. Bloodshot was a victim of very bad timing. I think there is serious potential for the character of Bloodshot and the Valiant universe, but right now, any plans are on the back-burner, and I don’t see another theatrical release of a Bloodshot movie. Add on top of that, there’s another project featuring Bloodshot that was released as a film about a month or so ago on YouTube called Ninjak Vs The Valiant Universe. It features Jason David Frank(of Power Rangers fame)in the role of Ray Garrison.
Would Bloodshot have fared better if we didn’t have a pandemic to worry about? Probably. I think there are enough fans of the character that the film would have gotten at least one sequel, but because of the outbreak, Bloodshot never had a chance and neither does the Valiant Universe, at least for the time being. Honestly, I don’t think it’s a terrible film, I think there’s enough here for Vin Diesel fans to really enjoy. I enjoyed a good chunk of it myself. It’s not a perfect movie, but what movie is? I just wish this film came out at a better time.
My Final Recommendation: 8/10.