A Brief History
On August 30, 2020, we finally got to see the Vin Diesel super hero action movie, Bloodshot, an eye candy extravaganza that came out on March 13, 2020, just in time to be destroyed by the coronavirus pandemic! The movie is much better than its disappointing box office numbers ($37.3 million on a $45 million budget) would indicate, the disaster being attributable to the pandemic and its closing of movie theaters, not to mention the reluctance of movie goers (like us!) to be in crowded places at that time.
Digging Deeper
Directed by David Wilson and starring Vin Diesel, who also co-produced the film, this super hero movie based on the comic Bloodshot (by Valiant Comics) is quite noticeably a Vin Diesel vehicle, showcasing the mighty action hero at his mayhem inducing best. At the age of 53, Diesel still looks like a mighty badass muscle man. Wilson makes his major movie directing debut with Bloodshot and seems to have mastered the art already. Obviously no longer in movie theaters, we watched the movie courtesy of cable television premium channel STARZ. The story line centers on a special forces type that is enhanced and altered with “nanites,” a nanobot type of infusion in which millions of little bio/mechanical/electronic gizmos circulate through his blood and give him super strength and the ability to heal himself quickly, much like the T2 terminator in the Terminator 2 movie, though without “liquid metal.” Lots of frantic action in this movie, with numerous cuts that reportedly have distracted some viewers. We found the quick cuts to be in line with the frantic action involved in the respective scenes. Likewise, the special effects were effective, though at times gave the film a video game sort of feel. Casting and acting were good, with the main co-star played by Eiza González, a minion of the evil corporation that is illegally and clandestinely experimenting on humans to create super warriors that do the bidding of corporation and its evil head. By the way, González is a real beauty, a Mexican cutie… (apologies to Jimmy Buffet!). Control of the Vin Diesel/Bloodshot character is achieved through the implantation of false memories that trigger a strong revenge reaction in order to target people for assassination.
The running time of 109 minutes seems shorter, as is often the case with movies that offer relentless action. Certain plot points seemed a little far fetched and perhaps not so well supported, but then the genre of the film is fantasy science fiction action after all. There were times when we were not sure what on the screen was “really” happening and whether or not the sequence was an implanted memory. Violence and sexual situations make the film suitable for teens, but sensitive pre-teens should watch with parental caution. Did we mention lots of action? If you like spectacular fight scenes and a tough talking action super-hero, Bloodshot will fill that ache in your belly rather well. We enjoyed the film and can safely recommend it to Vin Diesel and action hero fans. The movie was made with the intention of starting a franchise around the Bloodshot character or similar human guinea pigs, but the pandemic of 2020 has thrown a wrench into all sorts of movie making plans. If and when they come out with a sequel, we will be glad to watch it.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Lemire, Jeff. Bloodshot Reborn Deluxe Edition Book 1. Valiant Entertainment, 2016.
Swierczynski, Duane. Bloodshot, Volume 1: Setting The World On Fire. Valiant Entertainment, 2013.
The featured image in this article, the official poster for Bloodshot (2020), is of a poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher or the creator of the work depicted. It is believed that the use of scaled-down, low-resolution images of posters to provide critical commentary on the film in question or of the poster itself, not solely for illustration on a website used for educational purposes, hosted on servers in the United States, qualifies as fair use under the copyright law of the United States.
