Bloodshot

Bloodshot – US soldier, Ray Garrison, and his wife are abducted by mercenaries. They are both killed when he is unable to give them the information they want. However, Ray then wakes up from the dead in a cybernetic laboratory run by Dr. Emil Harting who has brought Ray back with the help of nanites injected into his bloodstream. Suffering from apparent amnesia, Ray’s memories slowly return and, with his new found abilities, he heads out to wreak revenge on the man who killed him. 

Bloodshot (2020) – Director: Dave Wilson

By Sony Pictures – Sony Pictures, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62897829

Rating: 12

Running Length: 109 mins

Starring: Vin Diesel, Eliza González, Guy Pierce

Genre: Action, Sciene Fiction

REVIEW: ‘BLOODSHOT’

Based on the Valiant Comic Books character, ‘Bloodshot’ follows the story of Ray Garrison (Vin Diesel). The classic amnesia plot line is used to flesh out a revenge tale where Diesel gets to show his range as an actor and go out there and kill some people. But with a sad face this time.

Reports of Ray’s death having been greatly exaggerated thanks to Dr Emil Harting’s nanite technology. Harting has worked his magic on other subjects, namely KT (Eiza González), Marcus Tibbs (Alex Hernandez) and Jimmy Dalton (Sam Heughan). Unfortunately only the beautiful KT gets a look in when it comes to character development, Marcus does little more than look like a sad puppy and Jimmy just hates Ray. Which is a real shame as as there was plenty of room in the plot to flesh out their characters.

‘Bloodshot’ has some good ideas but sadly there’s not enough oomph in the plotting to lift it above a verdict of ‘alright’. Diesel’s monotone performance does little to excite the viewer. Although his mean and moody persona can work in certain circumstances this film desperately needed someone with more charisma. Thankfully the introduction of the larger-than-life Wilfred Wigans (Lamorne Morris) is a breath of fresh air to a movie at risk of getting heavily bogged down. Wilfred is introduced too late to repair the damage, but at least makes for a funny band-aid.

‘Bloodshot’ certainly isn’t a bad film but it fits firmly in the ‘mindless action’ box and while we can all enjoy a bit of that, sometimes we need a little more than Vin Diesel’s mumblings.

CONTENT: IS ‘BLOODSHOT’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

In the opening moments, a voice is heard over a radio stating ‘Four hostages down … looks like they interrogated them and dumped the bodies here’.

A man holds a gun to another’s head who has blood all over his face.

Many bad guys are shot dead but there is no blood.

Ray is shown to be in bed with his wife. They both wear very little and kiss passionately, it is clear they are about to be physically intimate. However the camera cuts before anything graphic is seen.

Ray has been captured and tied to a chair. He is asked questions but as he doesn’t answer, his wife is brought in to motivate him. The main interrogator holds and demonstrates a bolt gun then suggestively asks Ray ‘Could she handle all six inches?’

After still not getting any answers from Ray, the interrogator holds the bolt gun to his wife’s head. He gives the pair a moment of hope and then callously kills her. This is done out of focus so isn’t overly graphic.

Some Ray goes to attack the man who killed his wife, there is an intense fight scene where many henchmen are killed. One dies when a grenade explodes underneath him. At the climax of this scene, Ray is shot in the head at close range and there is an extremely graphic few seconds where half of his face essentially disintegrates, his jaw bone protrudes and his ear hangs off. The blood flies out him and all of this stays in the air for a moment before everything pulls back together. This effect is used several times throughout the movie and is always graphic.

A character is strapped to a medical table, they are then injected with multiple needles, some of which go into their wrists.

A character jokes about six inches not being very big. Another male character becomes insecure and asks another if the nanite technology could be used to enhance him. Having not heard the previous conversation, this character asks ‘Why, is there a particular part of your body that needs augmentation?’ The man becomes visibly embarrassed and drops the subject.

Several characters watch a larger man on a video screen, one says ‘Someone’s been stress eating’.

A character pulls out the blade from a Stanley knife and squeezes it in his hand in order to make himself bleed.

A character refuses to work for a villainous character, however he uses technology to stop them from breathing. They struggle and suffer for some time before the character finally lets them take a breath.

A character smokes and blows it into another’s face. This character then collapses but doesn’t die.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘BLOODSHOT’ FOR KIDS?

Very much an adult’s film, ‘Bloodshot’ doesn’t hold back on the gory effects and while the plot doesn’t exactly break new ground, it is a lot of fun and doesn’t require much thought. We recommend this movie for kids as appropriate aged 12 and over.

• Violence: 5/5
• Emotional Distress: 2/5
• Fear Factor: 2/5 (at one point, Ray eye’s are entirely black and his voice is distorted, making him look like a monster)
• Sexual Content: 3/5
• Bad Language: 4/5 (frequent moderate cursing and one strong swear word)
• Dialogue: 4/5 (some sexual innuendo, a rape joke at the expense of a bound and terrified woman, some dialogue relating to deaths, torture and killings)
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of nanite technology, resurrection, revenge, love, lies and betrayal.

Words by Laura Record