Bloodshot Review – A Blustering Bruiser

Vin Diesel Weasels His Way Into a Simple Superhero Film

<p>Superhero films are all the rage and thus a matter of time before <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;imdb&period;com&sol;name&sol;nm0004874&sol;">Vin Diesel<&sol;a> wrapped his muscles around one of them&period; And yet Diesel seems to have become a superhero through his various <em>Fast &amp&semi; Furious<&sol;em> films&period; His character has performed impossible stunts that are more fun for being so absurd and unexpected&period; Here&comma; in <em>Bloodshot<&sol;em>&comma; we now expect absurdity from him playing a cyborg hero&period; That same bite is lost on a blistering picture of a cyber-soldier most droll&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-157521" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;04&sol;27084747&sol;Bloodshot04&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Vin Diesel in Bloodshot" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center">Diesel 2&period;0<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>Based on the comic book series&comma; Diesel plays vanilla soldier Ray Garrison&period; He’s tough and plays by his own rules&comma; which is not as comforting as it may seem in terrorist situations&period; He gets gung-ho on an assignment and ends up with a kooky villain killing his wife&period; Ray then ends up dead but is soon revived with advanced technology&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>When Ray awakens&comma; he’s informed by an exposition-spouting scientist &lpar;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;imdb&period;com&sol;name&sol;nm0001602&sol;">Guy Pearce<&sol;a>&rpar; that he is now a cyborg&period; Ray’s blood has been replaced with nanomachines that can not only keep him living but rebuild his body&period; If he gets a cut&comma; that cut heals quick&period; If he gets shot in the face&comma; a few seconds and he’s ready for more action&period; The nanomachines also make him stronger&comma; which is showcased in him lifting the heaviest weight at the gym &lpar;though not absurdly heavy&rpar;&period; Oh&comma; and he can also access the internet and educate himself quickly&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-157523" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;04&sol;27084815&sol;Bloodshot02&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Vin Diesel and Eiza González in Bloodshot" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center">Bloody Revenge<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>Of course&comma; Ray is blinded by this tech to be used as a means of revenge&period; A terrorist killed his wife and he can’t let that evil man get away with it&period; Thus begins Ray’s invincible rampage of getting back at the man who killed him&period; It seems pretty par for the course as though this were a blander dose of <em>Robocop<&sol;em> pathos amid vanilla stoicism&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But then something interesting happens&period; We soon learn that Ray’s memories were altered&period; That terrorist who killed him wasn’t the real killer of his wife&period; In fact&comma; his wife isn’t dead&period; Ray has merely been used as a pawn by the company that created him&period; His memories are wiped with each mission&comma; waking up after being killed and tracking down another &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;terrorist&period;” Quite the scenario for warping the perceptions of a soldier to do your bidding&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-157518" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;04&sol;27084708&sol;Bloodshot01&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Vin Diesel and Sam Heughan in Bloodshot" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center">A Missed Shot<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The problem with Bloodshot is that it relies on this subversion to make up for&comma; well&comma; everything else&period; The characters Ray encounters are more memorable for their cybernetic abilities than anything else&period; He forms a romance with KT &lpar;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;imdb&period;com&sol;name&sol;nm2555462&sol;">Eiza González<&sol;a>&rpar;&comma; more memorable for her underwater breathing than her previous service&period; He forms a rivalry with the cocky soldier Jimmy &lpar;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;imdb&period;com&sol;name&sol;nm1537825&sol;">Sam Heughan<&sol;a>&rpar; that forms out of nothing&period; It’s as artificial a feud as their all CGI-fight on an elevator&period; Oh&comma; and Jimmy now has Doc Ock robot attachments for some reason in the climax&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Even worse&comma; <em>Bloodshot<&sol;em> squanders it’s one key scene to deliver on its theme&period; There’s a scene where Pearce confronts Diesel to tell him how his loss of freedom frees him from complicated perceptions of the world&period; Diesel argues the opposite&comma; that choice is the most important part of a human being&period; Wise words&comma; sure&comma; but delivered with blustering attempts at emotion from a struggling Diesel&period; He’s never been known for poignant roles and watching him trying to make a tearful and bitter plea for his humanity is more painful than watching him take a shotgun blast to the face&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-157520" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;04&sol;27084737&sol;Bloodshot05&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Vin Diesel and Guy Pearce in Bloodshot" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center">The Lesser Victories<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The few positives of the film are few and far between&period; Naturally&comma; one comes into such a picture expecting plenty of action and there’s certainly plenty&period; Ray comes into his own as the hero Bloodshot quickly&comma; marching into combat with intimidation&period; He hides from soldiers&comma; rips them apart&comma; blows them up&comma; and kicks cars into them&period; It would all be quite the spectacle if not for the frenetic editing with far too many cuts&period; How can I enjoy the scene of a car crushing a soldier when the sequence has to cut to three different shots&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Perhaps the only saving grace of the picture is the hacker Wilfred &lpar;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;imdb&period;com&sol;name&sol;nm2031358&sol;">Lamorne Morris<&sol;a>&rpar;&period; Though posed as the stereotypical nerd of much coding and few friends&comma; he has the most personality&period; He’s quick-witted&comma; loves ramen&comma; boasts about his skills&comma; and seems like the most fun to be around&period; He is the most human character in a story of boring cyborgs who have about as much personality as the cars of <em>Fast &amp&semi; Furious<&sol;em>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-157519" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;04&sol;27084722&sol;Bloodshot06&period;jpeg" alt&equals;"Vin Diesel in Bloodshot" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center">Conclusion&colon; Bloodshot<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>In trying to force Vin Diesel through the superhero fad thresher&comma; <em>Bloodshot<&sol;em> is far too little far too late&period; The superhero genre has already evolved far past the pedestrian appeal of a <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;standing-proud-captain-america-winter-soldier-review&sol;">super-soldier out for revenge<&sol;a>&period; Vin Diesel has already been framed as such a cartoonish action hero that playing an indestructible hero seems underwhelming&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s just a meandering mash of underwhelming theatrics from an action icon who need not embrace such gimmicks&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>What did you think of Bloodshot&quest; Was it a good or bad comic book movie&quest; Let us know in the comments below&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"jeg&lowbar;review&lowbar;wrap">&NewLine; <h3 class&equals;"jeg&lowbar;review&lowbar;subtitle">The Review<&sol;h3>&NewLine; <h2 class&equals;"jeg&lowbar;review&lowbar;title">&NewLine; Bloodshot&NewLine; <&sol;h2>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"jeg&lowbar;reviewheader clearfix">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"review&lowbar;score score&lowbar;bad">&NewLine; <span class&equals;"score&lowbar;value">3<&sol;span>&NewLine; <span class&equals;"score&lowbar;text">Score<&sol;span>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"desc" style&equals;''>&NewLine; <p>A staggeringly simple-minded and dreary bruised-arm superhero outing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"jeg&lowbar;reviewdetail clearfix">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"conspros">&NewLine; <h3>PROS<&sol;h3>&NewLine; <ul><li><i class&equals;"jegicon-check"><&sol;i> Interesting concept of a manipulated superhero&period;<&sol;li><li><i class&equals;"jegicon-check"><&sol;i> Some gritty fights&period;<&sol;li><li><i class&equals;"jegicon-check"><&sol;i> Lamorne Morris brings some personality&period;<&sol;li><&sol;ul>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"conspros">&NewLine; <h3>CONS<&sol;h3>&NewLine; <ul><li><i class&equals;"jegicon-cross"><&sol;i> Lack of character&period;<&sol;li><li><i class&equals;"jegicon-cross"><&sol;i> Twist telegraphed too early&period;<&sol;li><li><i class&equals;"jegicon-cross"><&sol;i> Unconvincing special effects&period;<&sol;li><&sol;ul>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"jeg&lowbar;reviewscore jeg&lowbar;reviewbars clearfix" data-scoretype&equals;"point">&NewLine; <h3>Review Breakdown<&sol;h3>&NewLine; <ul><li>&NewLine; <strong>Final Score<&sol;strong>&NewLine; <span class&equals;"reviewscore">3<&sol;span>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"jeg&lowbar;reviewbar&lowbar;wrap">&NewLine; <span style&equals;"width&colon; 30&percnt;" class&equals;"barbg"><&sol;span>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <&sol;li><&sol;ul>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; &NewLine; <&sol;div>

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