Bloodshot is not the kind of film I’d waste my time going to watch at the cinema, however I jumped at the opportunity to watch it in the comfort of my own home where I could tune out and do other things if it got dull. And I’m rather pleasantly surprised to admit that it never did.
Bloodshot is based on a Valiant comic of the same name which tells the story of Ray Garrison, a soldier killed and brought back to life with the use of nanites, giving him superhuman powers and a thirst for revenge.
Going into this film I knew nothing about it, I hadn’t even seen a trailer. My only misgiving was regarding Vin Diesel, who like Keanu Reeves, is great to watch in action but sadly his acting skills leave a little to be desired. Surprisingly I didn’t mind Vin Diesel in this, and it probably stems from the fact that he spends most of his time in action with very little opportunity for any more meaningful or emotional scenes (thankfully).
The first half of this film had me worried. It opens with some irritating slow-motion action shots and then progresses into what is rather a predictable and done to death origin film revenge plot. There are some good points though: the action scenes and CGI were very well done and choreographed, the filming locations are beautifully shot, and the dancing scene with Toby Kebbell was a riot, almost feeling like it would’ve been better placed in something made by Tarantino rather than this.
Had the film carried on in this same vein for its entire runtime, I would’ve switched off. However there was a reveal halfway through that provided a much-needed boost to the story and a great deal of humour, and I never saw it coming. This pushed this film from being pretty poor to fairly enjoyable and entertaining.
That isn’t to say it doesn’t have its flaws. Guy Pearce is playing the same character he seems to have played in everything else recently and Toby Kebbell is massively underused. The remaining members of the team are rather cliched villains or just completely forgettable. And there’s a scene towards the end with a pouting and over the top KT that is so cheesy and cringeworthy, it’s laughably bad. There’s also an action scene set in London that has been obviously not been filmed in London (or in the UK at all from the look of the buildings and vehicle registrations), so there are a few missteps with the production and the finale has far too much CGI as well.
Overall I was expecting this to be atrocious and was rather pleasantly surprised to find myself laughing and enjoying it to a point. It is by no means perfect and will never win any awards, however if you’re looking for some brainless action and entertainment you could do much worse than Bloodshot.
A contract manager moonlighting as a rather discerning film and book critic, with an almost fangirl appreciation for anything made by Christopher Nolan. When I’m not catching up on my latest read or watch, you can usually find me trying out my amateur baking skills – Bake Off here I come!
