Bloodshot (2020)

Directed by: Dave Wilson | 109 minutes | action, drama | Actors: Vin Diesel, Eiza González, Sam Heughan, Toby Kebbell, Talulah Riley, Lamorne Morris, Guy Pearce, Siddharth Dhananjay, Tyrel Meyer, Alex Anlos, Clyde Berning, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson

Twenty years ago, Vin Diesel was Hollywood’s hottest star. The American caused a furore as an antihero in ‘Pitch Black’ and scored a supporting role in ‘Saving Private Ryan’. After that, things went fast and his presence drew hordes to the cinema eager to see the wall-to-wall behemoth in blockbusters like ‘The Fast and the Furious’ and ‘xXx’. Diesel was the man in the zeros. About ten years ago, his status changed and more and more lost interest in the actor. A new generation of action heroes had emerged. Ryan Reynolds, Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson combined their muscle mass with a good dose of self-mockery. Something the always serious and melancholy-looking Diesel lacks. Diesel, however, remained in the picture thanks to the ‘Fast and the Furious’ saga. Attempts to set up new franchises came to nothing. ‘The Last Witch Hunter’ was not the hoped-for success and the second sequel to ‘Pitch Black’, in which Diesel once again took on the role of anti-hero Riddick, did not meet the financial expectations. In 2020, the actor is again trying to carry a film and set up a franchise. Enter ‘Bloodshot’.

In ‘Bloodshot’ Diesel plays Ray Garrison. When this soldier in armor dies, his body is confiscated by security firm Rising Spirit Technologies. This organization succeeds in bringing the warrior back to life thanks to nanotechnology. Useful! Thanks to technology, Garrison is faster and stronger than ever and heals in no time so that he is almost invulnerable. However, these qualities come at the cost of his humanity. Is he more human than machine and what actually happened to his wife?

‘Bloodshot’ is based on the eponymous character from the stable of comic book publisher Valiant Comics. This company deals in obscure – but beloved – cult characters like Shadowman and Ninjak. Now that almost all characters from the Marvel and DC stables are getting their own movie, other comic companies can’t stay behind. However, Bloodshot is not a very interesting character. at least not in this movie. This movie comes across as a lame cross between ‘RoboCop’, ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ and ‘Man Apart’. Better stolen well than poorly conceived, right? There is something in that, but this production is a by the numbers action film without an identity.

Diesel is too limited as an actor for this supporting role. He takes the source material very seriously and hopes to make Bloodshot a tragic antihero. A grumpy look isn’t acting, though. The action is also a big disappointment. A fight scene in an elevator clearly comes out of the computer and looks like a deleted scene from an old Spider-Man movie. Yep, heavily dated. More disturbingly, ‘Bloodshot’, like countless other popcorn films of the past few years, is rather ostentatiously working towards establishing a franchise. This production should be a prelude to a grand universe of characters from Valiant Comics. There is quite a lot of references to other characters of this publishing house.

Movies like the reboot of ‘The Mummy’ starring Tom Cruise and the earlier DC Comics films preceded ‘Bloodshot’. Movie studios smell money and hope to make a successful counterpart to the Marvel Universe. Films serve not so much as finished stories, but as tentative pegs to tie all kinds of characters and universes to. That’s how ‘Bloodshot’ feels: like a setup for a movie universe instead of a finished story. When all Valiant Comics film adaptations feel as forced and uncreative as this Diesel vehicle, it looks bleak. Perhaps there are still people who are waiting for defective computer effects and B-garnish superheroes by a cast from the same category, but the chance is quite small.