Review of Bloodshot (2020) by Chrismizerak — 26 Jul 2020

As much as this statement will surely contradict itself, “Bloodshot” is all at once as fascinating and disinteresting as it sounds both at the same time. This is one of those middle-of-the-road experiences where an intriguing if formulaic concept is executed to a final result that is literally a mixed bag.

Vin Diesel plays a U.S. Marine who is abruptly killed after a troublesome altercation overseas. Said Marine is brought back to life however on account of an organization, led by Guy Pierce, who gives him superhuman abilities to use to take out targets that are a threat to their ways.

But obviously if the film’s trailers are any indication, there’s more to the narrative than simply just that. One of the film’s best strengths are a couple of plot twists that play with our protagonist’s perception of the world he’s apart of and whether or not that perception is valid and even exists for that matter.

The cast does their part in communicating the basics behind their barebone characters and motivations. That being said, these are pretty barebone people we’re following in this derivative storyline, which is essentially a semi-superhero story, seeing that it was based on a comic book.

And if you know my stance on superhero flicks, you know what I’m about to say. For all the films in the superhero genre I enjoy or respect, it’s easily the most over exposed and tired genre on the market.

The interactions between characters in this story are far more engaging and dynamic than the obligatory action set pieces on offer here. Yes, the CGI is necessary with what they want to show, but it still remains overabundantly used.

The climax specifically uses too much CGI to the point that all excitement in the climactic elevator sequence seen in the trailers is completely lost. The problem with “Bloodshot” in a nutshell is that as an experience, it’s quite dull and nowhere near as immersive as it needed to be to keep us invested.

I was watching this very late last night with my family after working late, but I was still willing to check out something before heading to bed. I was struggling to stay awake because A) I had a long day and B) there wasn’t enough captivating content on offer here to justify fighting my need to rest.

Some films, games, and TV shows can succeed at a late-night test such as the one I put “Bloodshot” through and those that do are few and far between. “Bloodshot” is a textbook example of modern-day mediocrity.

The type of product that even at its best delves into tried-and-true territory with frankly nothing that exciting to bring to the table. It’s just going through the motions of basically every other comic book film made in the past decade.

That’s all there is to it.