The plot for Bloodshot centers around a soldier named Ray Garrison (Played by Vin Diesel), who witnesses the murder of his wife before he himself is killed as well. Left for dead, he later ends up being brought back to life and discovers that he's been given superpowers by a mysterious organization. When the memories of his wife being murdered returns, he sets off on a brutal and bloody mission of revenge which slowly makes him realize that his memories may not be entirely trustworthy. The plot for Bloodshot isn't a bad one, but serves as being painfully unoriginal and heavily reliant on formulas from previous action/Sci-Fi classics with it bearing similarities to films such as RoboCop in regards to the main character being killed and turned into something more than human. To put it in more blatant terms, all the best parts of Bloodshot's plot have been lifted from other classic stories with similar structures while lacking the creative drive of those films. What was intended to be a hopeful start for a new trilogy of comic book based films turns out to be a painfully mediocre effort, that feels as if it only intended to deliver throwaway old-school style action without aspiring to be something greater. Bloodshot feels like a comic book style film that would've fit in perfectly during the 80's and 90's era with the end result paling in comparison to all the epic superhero films that surround it in today's generation of filmmaking. The most frustrating part of watching Bloodshot is how uninspired the movie feels in it's attempts to be more than just average to mediocre entertainment with the realization quickly hitting those watching it that the filmmakers aren't even trying to be groundbreaking with the story. The film has similar issues to Ang Lee's Gemini Man in which both movies not only feel like the audience have seen them before with their plots borrowing elements from previous movies ( Gemini Man felt like a combination of 1995's Assassins combined with Jason Bourne meets The 6th Day), but they lack the creative drive and enthusiasm to go beyond being just average attempts to show the audience something different. Bloodshot is a film that prioritizes style over substance with the film providing passable entertainment for audiences, while instantly becomes forgettable afterwards.
In regards to the acting performances, the main cast of Bloodshot does the best they can with the material handed to them, even if their characters come across as feeling rather generic or tropes from other films with similar plots structures (Guy Pearce's character feels like Michael Keaton's role in the failed 2014 Robocop remake). The film relies heavily on the charisma that Vin Diesel brings to his films as an action star with Bloodshot proving to be no exception. Diesel is the strength of the film and delivers its much needed shot of adrenaline to make the action aspect of the story watchable for audiences at the very least. Diesel is effective in playing Ray Garrison/Bloodshot with the role feeling as if it was written to fit the actors persona. Whereas the story crumbles around him, Diesel helps to elevate the film to a status of being watchable at the very least. Eiza Gonzalez makes the most of her role as former US Navy diver KT, and companion of Ray on his journey to discovering the truth behind his past. Despite Gonzalez's character feeling like the generic female sidekick that befriends and ultimately helps the main character in the story, she does the best job she can with giving her character somewhat of a distinct personality. Her and Diesel share solid chemistry together with the moments involving their characters going back and forth being reasonably decent ones that work. Guy Pearce can always be relied on to play any role he's given to maximum effect regardless of the type of film he's apart of. Here he brings his A game to the role of playing the films main antagonist Dr. Emil Harting, the scientist who helped turn Ray into Bloodshot while constantly reprogramming him to pursue the person's who murdered his wife (Or did they?). Pearce's role feels painfully generic like a mixture of both Gary Oldman and Michael Keaton's roles in the 2014 RoboCop remake (Another painfully average film) merged together along with the stereotypical power hungry scientist, that comes with the typical human being transformed into something greater plot. As for the rest of the supporting cast, Lamorne Morris does well playing ally of Ray named Wilfred Wigan, who helps Ray with realizing that he's being programmed to go after people who weren't involved with his wife's murder. Sam Heughan proves effective as Jimmy Dalton, one of the films main antagonists who doesn't get along with Ray throughout the course of the film with the same being said for Alex Hernandez as Tibbs. Other notable parts are Talulah Riley in her brief but effective role as Ray's wife Gina Garrison, Johannes Haukur Johannesson as Nick Baris, Tamer Burjaq as Mombasa Gunman, and Siddharth Dhananjay as Eric. One can clearly tell watching the film that the cast tried to make the most of their experience with Diesel and Pearce coming across as both having the strongest presence in the film. Though the actors/actresses can't make up for the films shortcomings in regards to its script and underwhelming filmmaking all around, they help to make the film somewhat watchable as throwaway entertainment at best.
The films directing by David S.F. Wilson comes across as feeling standard, ultimately working as being serviceable at best. The biggest disappointment with Wilson's work here, is the lack of risk taking the film clearly shows. There's nothing about the film that makes it truly standout besides the use of some reasonably solid visual effects. Rather than being an impressive directorial debut for for the newcomer, the end result just feels like a film that's built on the backs of other classic action/science fiction stories with the overall work feeling like a culmination of spare parts glued together from those movies. On a visual note, the film carries appeal though becomes heavily reliant on the use of CGI, particularly the films climactic battle that involves speeding down 50 stories with the character of Ray fighting one of the films key antagonists in the elevator shaft. The visually flashy action sequence in itself is appealing enough to watch, but isn't enough to disguise the fact that the film suffers from a lack of groundbreaking action sequences with the audience having already seen this sequence played out before in other superior films. The films editing proves to be a mixed bag as it moves at a fairly consistent pace despite the action feeling both over-edited as well as underdeveloped with key action scenes lacking true build up. What the film truly lacks as a whole is a vision in regards to bringing its story to the big screen in a form that hasn't been done before. Upon watching Bloodshot, one never truly gets the feeling that the movie aims to be something that audiences haven't seen before previously. The film often feels like certain visual effects moments are just present for the sake of looking appealing to audiences, not because they legitimately fit the plot nor advance it in anyway. The greatest disappointment with the film besides the story relying on so many previous source materials for oxygen, is the films action never truly feels groundbreaking nor forms a life of its own with everything feeling economical in terms of Wilson's directing. While his overall directing effort isn't terrible as he's able to create a somewhat interesting world for the main characters to move around, there's nothing about his work that feels as if any risks were taken here with the film ultimately feeling too safe giving the film a feeling of being just average.
The films screenplay by Jeff Wadlow (Who also penned the story) and Eric Heisserer, feels like a copy and paste effort with the audience having already seen most of the films most appealing aspects of its plot. One finds themselves asking why would audiences want to sit through another revenge tale where the anti-hero witnesses his love being murdered with him being transformed into something that exceeds being human with him going on a relentless pursuit of the murderers, if the scenario wasn't prepared to take that story in a different route than what's already been done before. There's been stronger films with virtually the same plot, that have done it more effectively while creating a unique yet thrilling experience for the audience. The problem here lies that audiences are so familiar with all the subplots and cliches that everything feels both predictable and tiresome. If one wants to see a character like Vin Diesel's being murdered along with his wife, later brought back to life using state-of-the-art technology which makes him stronger, faster, and more aware of his surroundings then they should stick with films like RoboCop. The whole subplot involving Ray using his newfound abilities to go on an intense murder spree of revenge to seek justice for the murder of his wife, would be way more convincing and exciting if both the writers and director were allowed to go all in with the films violence. A revenge story should typically be an intense and gory experience with the one presented here being too tame for the audience to truly be shocked by the nature Diesel's character pursues and ultimately handles his targets. The films side characters may appear to be appealing on the surface but turn out to be pretty one-on-one and underdeveloped with the audience not being able to connect with any of them outside of Vin Diesel's character (Even then audiences are walking a fine line in terms of whether they connect with Ray's character or not given there's not much backstory to him outside of the films promising opening scene). The films scriptwriting as a whole feels bland and overly reliant on old recipes in a desperate attempt to make its story work here. Many of the films beats feel all too familiar with the characters lacking substantial development to make audiences invested in both them or the story as a whole. The films screenplay literally screams predictable as the audience know that his wife will be killed and he will be transformed into something more powerful that will allow him to exact revenge with those who transformed him plotting to maintain their leash on him by implanting misleading memories. The audience also knows that Diesel's character will grow connected with Eiza Gonzalez's character and work together to find the films true villains. Bloodshot is literally every revenge film and human transformation story rolled into one mediocre effort that feels cheap and uninspired.
For comic book fans heading into Bloodshot with great anticipation with the expectation being it would be a well-executed and story-driven film, they deserve much better as they're bound to be severely disappointed. Bloodshot is a terribly bland and average film, that could've been handled much better as well as more memorable if the filmmakers gave the film the proper treatment its story demanded. The films action and plot feel so routinely done that one can't help but ask the question of why even bother making the film if the filmmakers weren't aspiring to tread new ground with its concept. The films only saving grace is Vin Diesel's likable presence in the main role along with Guy Pearce giving his all to the part regardless of how bland his character feels. Given that Valiant comics was hoping to turn this into the next big comic book franchise, the whole team behind Bloodshot should've been reaching for the stars in terms of this one working as a whole. Either it was the well-known notorious ego of its main star Vin Diesel behind the camera, that got in the way of the overall film quality or the wrong director was chosen to helm it. Given that this was Wilson's first effort, one suspects that it was the latter that sunk this film critically. Bloodshot will easily end up being a critical flop for a superhero film as the films heartless production along with its lack of desire to bring something new to the table ultimately became its undoing. As a throwaway action flick, Bloodshot provides a temporary escape into a typical revenge flick full of standard action sequences, that audiences have seen previously and in some cases paid for recently. They're better off watching those films and getting reacquainted with both their stories and characters, as it will prove to be a much more satisfying experience than the one presented here. Bloodshot is a forgettable action flick, that has nothing new to offer audiences as its best moments have been drawn from other works of art. What the film is sorely lacking and what could've ultimately saved it was a visionary filmmaker at the helm with a stronger script. Audiences watching the film are sure to wonder ultimately about what happened and what could've been if the project was placed in the hands of filmmakers who were genuinely enthusiastic about telling its story.
Final Verdict: For both fans of the Bloodshot comics and Vin Diesel fans, they're better off seeking alternative revenge tales or ones involving men turned into something more highly advanced than human as the one here offers nothing new besides reminders of past glories.
Final Verdict: For both fans of the Bloodshot comics and Vin Diesel fans, they're better off seeking alternative revenge tales or ones involving men turned into something more highly advanced than human as the one here offers nothing new besides reminders of past glories.
No comments:
Post a Comment