By Shane Conto
The 20th century had the western. This genre was one of the biggest types of film from the 30’s and up until the 90’s. This was one of “the” genres of the century. What would be the 21st century’s? What genre will be remembered as one that defined this time in cinema? The comic book genre is presently the top candidate. This “genre” pumps out billion-dollar films regularly at this point with the Marvel Cinematic Universe taking the world by storm. Comic book adaptations can be a very diverse bunch of films. You can get superheroes, noirs, prohibition dramas, and so many more out of the realm of the graphic novel. The latest edition to this movement in film is Bloodshot. Vin Diesel leads this action thriller directed by Dave Wilson. Ambitious creator, Jeff Wadlow, was on board with the script.
Bloodshot centers around a soldier turned weapon who is programmed to do the bidding of an evil corporation. Diesel plays this blunt instrument (with an uninspired blunt performance at that) who is controlled by a charismatic Guy Pearce. Crazy action set pieces created with hit or miss CGI fill this film. When it really comes down to it, this film is very hit or miss (but leaning heavily towards misses). What this film really needed was a strong and charismatic performance from its lead in order to anchor the action and plot. What we got was a flat performance that honestly wasn’t really a surprise. With a role that could have been sharp and sarcastic, the silly tone of the film could have bolstered that. One of the best aspects of this film is that it knows what it is (for the most part). The tone is silly as the film is aware enough to know the premise is absurd and you can have fun with it.
Like the film, I had some fun with it too.
Wilson does create a consistent enough tone for the film but there are some areas that do not work so well. The editing is messy and uneven. The film is jumbled in almost every scene as the cuts are too quick and not smooth enough to balance the story. The action set pieces are fun and inventive with some cool ideas for weapons including mechanical limbs and mech suits. The action itself is pretty clever with how the characters fight each other (one particular scene is all in heat registers). What brings those scenes down would be that same choppy editing. This harmed the climax of the film in many ways as a cool elevator fight is bogged down in fake looking characters mashing into each other.
Jeff Wadlow takes on this high concept story with a soldier turned nanobot warrior battling his controllers and those who he is programmed to kill. The story is pretty generic with a story that pulls from so many better science fiction films. The twists are not really twists and the characters are flat. The “comedic” beats are not comedic at all with terrible dialogue making for some seriously awkward moments. If it wasn’t for Eiza Gonzalez and Guy Pearce, the acting would be completely forgettable as well. Unfortunately, the script didn’t have nanobots lifting it up so it is as flat as the performances.
When it is all said and done, Bloodshot will be just another comic book adaptation that came out during the genre boom. There were some impressive elements to work with from clever action set pieces and plot points but in the end they were dragged ton by the surrounding mediocrity. Maybe with another go around, this one could have been a great time. What we got was a forgettable action flick.