Bloodshot Movie Review

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

PLOT: A murdered soldier (Vin Diesel) is resurrected as an invincible assassin, bent on avenging the murder of his wife at the hands of a terrorist (Toby Kebbell). But, is his mission as righteous as he thinks, or is he just a pawn in the hands of the scientist (Guy Pearce) who resurrected him?

BLOODSHOT MOVIE REVIEW: Vin Diesel’s career outside of FAST & FURIOUS has been interesting. Apparently a huge sci-fi junkie, this is one of the multiple attempts by the star to craft himself a franchise outside of his usual cars and spies wheelhouse. An adaptation of the Valiant Comics character, this is probably more palatable to his hard-core base than THE LAST WITCH HUNTER, but BLOODSHOT still lacks the high style and “everything and the kitchen sink” approach of the FAST & FURIOUS films (which suffered mightily from his absence in the abysmal HOBBS & SHAW), and the camp factor of the deliciously goofy XXX: RETURN OF XANDER CAGE.

Sporting a $45 million budget, which likely wouldn’t even pay for the catering on FAST 9, BLOODSHOT is ultimately too derivative of other, better films to work. While I have no familiarity with the comic book character, the central premise, that a now unstoppable force wants revenge but is being used by the powers that be is more than a little reminiscent of ROBOCOP, although Diesel’s character at least doesn’t have to worry about being an unwieldy mix of man and machine. Rather, the machine part is limited to the nanobots that make up his blood, save for an unexplained wrinkle that occasionally turns his skin chalky white and turns his chest red, making him look more like his comic. Of course, his powers can’t help but have more than a little in common with Deadpool.

Given the budget, the film still has an impressive look, with decent CGI, although many of the action scenes are a sloppy mess, with too frantic cutting, while the sound mix also seems chaotic, as if the audio was turned down on the dialogue to emphasize the chaos. Diesel, while undoubtedly iconic in a way many contemporary action heroes aren’t, also struggles to carry the film, although this can be chalked up to the fact that he’s used as a tool throughout and has very little of his own agency. He’s being used and what’s worse, right from the start we know he’s being used.

The action is mostly repetitive, with Diesel inhaling bullets and reconstructing himself. He’s so invincible, we never for a second believe anyone, especially "Outlander"’s Sam Heughan, who’s built up as the big physical threat of the film as another modified soldier, can take him on. He has too many advantages beyond the fact that hey – he’s Vin Diesel. The only ones who manage to stand out a bit are Eiza González as another one of the modified soldiers he’s set up with – and eventually against – although we never really learn much about her other than the fact that she was a diver and has been augmented by getting the ability to breathe underwater (which – amazingly – never factors into any of the action scenes). “New Girl”’s Lamorne Morris, sporting a fake English accent, is the comic relief but is introduced over an hour into the film and feels like a tacked-on presence – as if they knew the film needed some levity. Guy Pearce feels badly miscast as the big bad, with him far more suited to hero roles thanks to the fact that he never chews the scenery. That’s commendable, but this isn’t the kind of movie where you should underplay things. A hammier actor, like a Danny Huston, was needed here I think.

BLOODSHOT fares best in the first hour when the premise is being set-up, with any and all interesting choices made here, including novel use of the Talking Heads track “Psycho Killer”. Still, director David S.F. Wilson doesn’t seem to have much of a distinctive style going on, as the movie can’t help but feel assembly line and rushed to a certain degree, especially in the clunky second half. While Bloodshot is perfectly watchable, it never feels like anything more than a B-movie and seems unlikely to spawn another big franchise for Diesel. Suffice to say, not only will it not make people forget about FAST & FURIOUS (newly delayed a whole year!), but it won’t even make people forget about XXX or Riddick. Its fine – but nothing more than that although I suppose given recent news it’ll have to tide fan over for awhile.

Bloodshot

BELOW AVERAGE

5

-

Viewer Ratings (0 reviews)

Add your rating

1 star 2 stars 3 stars 4 stars 5 stars 6 stars 7 stars 8 stars 9 stars 10 stars