Bloodshot Almost Pulls Itself Out of Edgelord Blandness

In the mid- to late ’90s I would occasionally catch glimpses of a few comic book companies attempting to ride on the coattails of industry frontrunners, Marvel and DC Comics. One of those companies leading the charge was an obscure company by the name of Valiant, a company that had an established universe with its own lore that never really found its footing in the mainstream aside from a couple of crossovers. But perhaps their most standout machination was the character of Bloodshot, a nanotech soldier who takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’. Bloodshot the movie has been in the works since 2012, and with both Vin Diesel and his production company getting involved in 2018, the project was underway. Now I can tell you if Bloodshot went off without a hitch or turned out to be a total dud.

After dying in action, Marine Ray Garrison (Diesel) is brought back to life by a team of scientists. Enhanced with nanotechnology, he becomes a superhuman, biotech killing machine — Bloodshot. As Ray first trains with fellow super-soldiers, he struggles to recall anything from his previous years. But when his memories flood back and he remembers the man that killed both him and his wife, he breaks out of the facility hellbent on revenge, only to discover that there’s more to what he remembers, leading to a conspiracy.

Going into Bloodshot, I was prepared for a groan-worthy edgelord fest that would have been more appealing to my 17-year-old self, and for the entirety of the first act, it was.

However, when the narrative shifts gears, I was genuinely surprised and while I can’t go into detail it’s a pretty clever twist.

The visuals were pretty good, and the use of CGI was peppered throughout the film, so it never felt tacked on like in most films of this genre.

Music and sound quality weren’t exceptional, but I found myself enjoying some of the song choices. 

The humor was forgettable, but it’s definitely not meant to be the movie’s selling point.

Don’t come to this looking for Oscar-worthy performances. Vin Diesel plays himself, Guy Pierce basically reprises his character from Iron Man 3, and Elza Gonzalez plays “The Girl.” Gonzalez and Diesel have no chemistry on screen, but that may have more to do with Vin Diesel’s milquetoast charisma.

The most standout performance was easily Lamorne Morris, who does a convincing British accent. He was the most fun aspect of the film.

So that’s Bloodshot — not the worst movie I’ve seen all year, but it definitely was a “safe” intellectual property to adapt. It’s dumb, predictable, but not without its charm.

I give Bloodshot (Sony Pictures Entertainment, PG-13, 1hr 49mins) a 3 out of 5.