Bloodshot: Movie Review

Unfortunately, "Bloodshot" is another generic and formulaic Vin Diesel action movie that by now has ran through its effectiveness to excite. While the film has superhero this time around to at least explain some of the superhuman and physics-defying abilities of Vin Diesel, the predictable narrative and not-so-great action means that there's little to love in "Bloodshot".

Ray Garrison (Vin Diesel) is a soldier who was recently killed in action along with his wife Gina. Brought back to life by the RST corporation, Ray who has a second lease in life is not only invincible and incredibly strong due to an army of nanotechnology nanites coursing his veins but is out for vengeance for those who did him wrong. But what seems to be a blessing turns out to be a curse as upgrading his body, the company is also manipulating his mind and memories. As he begins to remember his past life, Ray isn’t sure what’s real and what’s not – but he’s determined to take back control at all costs.

It would be easy to dismiss that Vin Diesel as the main issue in "Bloodshot". His acting performance is the same as any other action film starring him and you'd be hard-pressed to separate this from a "Fast and Furious" film. But that's not really the biggest issues we encountered with "Bloodshot". More than Vin Diesel, it was the pedestrian story, under-developed characters, and barely acceptable action that really made this experience a not-so-enjoyable one. First, the narrative itself lacked any surprises. It's generic at best and you could see from a mile where it was leading itself into. It didn't help that it had a lot of scenes that just didn't make a lot of sense even for a sci-fi fantasy film. On top of this, the various characters were half-baked particularly the villains. There's little backstory or explanation on why they have a vendetta against Ray and we never really get an opportunity to really care for anyone else even Ray. Finally, the action itself lacked any consistency relying on heavy cuts and heavy CGI to accomplish its job. Unfortunately, the cuts themselves were quite obtrusive and obvious breaking the rhythm and flow of the film's choreography. It just felt that the action (and even the soundtrack it uses) was from a different era altogether maybe from two decades ago. Overall, "Bloodshot" just comes off uninspired and it's sad to say that the planned Valiant Comics shared universe on the big screen may never come to fruition after this failed attempt.

Rating: 2 reels





Why you should watch it:
- this can be easily a mindless romp making it fun at times

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- feels like were watching an action film from twenty years ago
- the action falls flat relying heavily on CGI and badly-shot choreography