BLOODSHOT (2020) ***

 

I don’t know if it’s because I miss the theatrical moviegoing experience.  Or the fact they pushed back the new Fast and Furious.  Or if it’s because we’re not getting to see comic book movies like Black Widow and Wonder Woman this year.  For some reason, whatever it is, I had a helluva good time with Vin Diesel-starring comic book adaptation, Bloodshot.

Is it a thoroughly generic and derivative superhero movie?  Yes.  However, it’s one that happens to be slightly self-aware, which helps it be enormously entertaining. 

Diesel stars as a soldier who vows revenge on the man who killed his wife (Talulah Riley).  The only problem is… he’s dead.  Thanks to a smarmy scientist (Guy Pearce), he is brought back to life, infused with self-healing nanite technology and a computer brain that gives him complete access to government surveillance satellites, and trained to become the perfect soldier.  Naturally, he goes AWOL in order to exact revenge on his wife’s murderer (Toby Kebbell).   

That’s the set-up.  To get into more detail would spoil some of the fun.  Just know it’s kind of like Robocop Gets a Memento from Wolverine and Deadpool at the Edge of Tomorrow on Groundhog Day.  Even though he’s juggling a lot of clichés and half-baked parts from other movies, director David S.F. Wilson (a former visual effects man) has a keen sense of humor that doesn’t get in the way of the story, but actually enhances it.  Things start off a little wonky, but even that has a humorous payoff, as the film finds its footing about midway through and really begins to take off.

It helps that Pearce injects the movie with a slimy arrogance that elevates his potentially one-dimensional role into something memorable.  Another bonus is Wilson’s surprisingly strong flair for action.  The shootout in a tunnel where Diesel gets his face blown off and then it reattaches itself is cool, and the final duel with a bio-enhanced henchman (Sam Heughan from Outlander), who dons a pair of Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robot arms for their big slobberknocker is quite amusing.  (When their big brawl atop a series of speeding elevators occurs, try to imagine WHO is actually in those elevators as the facility looks like it’s only home to about four soldiers, one scientist, and maybe half a dozen tech guys.) 

Vin delivers a solid performance and emotes as much as the freshly resurrected corpse of a super-soldier can.  I especially liked his reactions during his funny superhero workout montage.  I don’t think it’s as good as the Riddick series or as wild as the Fast and Furious franchise, but I would put this a notch or two above the XXX movies.  It’s not a game changer or anything, but it’s a perfectly suitable Diesel placeholder until the next Fast and Furious flick gets here.