CoVideo On Demand: Bloodshot

In this series originally written for The Phoenix News, we review movies that would have been in theatres in summer 2020, but released digitally instead! Today: Vin Diesel’s superhero satire Bloodshot

Bloodshot, the latest superhero movie starring Vin Diesel, is a psychological action thriller that’s much better than the sum of its parts. Featuring unique spins on the origin story, evil organization, and super-soldier cliches, Bloodshot simultaneously celebrates and satirizes superhero movie tropes in smart and entertaining ways.

After US Airman Ray Garrison (Vin Diesel) is kidnapped and unceremoniously killed following a covert rescue mission, he is revived by Dr. Emil Harting (Guy Pearce), a biomechanics engineer and CEO of Rising Spirit Tech. Additionally, Garrison has been implanted with billions of nanites – tiny machines living in his blood that constantly repair any damage to his cells – giving him a healing ability that makes him essentially invincible. As Garrison adapts to his new life, he begins to remember his life before, eventually striking out on his own to get revenge on the man who kidnapped him. But as Garrison exacts his vengeance, he begins to realize there’s more to Harting, Rising Spirit Tech, and even his own situation than he originally thought.

The core idea of Bloodshot is human-machine augmentation. Rising Spirit Tech is, on the surface, a prosthetics company, with most of its employees augmented in some way. Harting has a robotic arm, while others within the company have artificial tracheas, robotic legs, or ocular implants. At various points in the film, Harting is shown to have override control on nearly every device manufactured by his company, and this extends to Garrison’s nanites, which essentially act as robotic blood. In one scene, a character fascinatedly remarks that Garrison is “fully programmable”, foreshadowing the level of control Harting has over the super-soldier. The movie uses this to explore how Garrison perceives his reality, as he – and sometimes even the audience – is forced to doubt what’s right in front of him.

Interestingly, the movie leans more into its philosophical ideas than its action scenes. While there’s plenty of scenes of Garrison fighting cannon fodder in a dark tunnel (usually the same dark tunnel, actually), there are many more scenes of Rising Spirit Tech operators arguing about ethics in a control room. Harting gets several excellent villain monologues during these scenes, as well as some highly entertaining moments of absurdity as he methodically works through his maniacal plans.

Through excellent writing, great acting from Diesel and Pearce, and smart directing from newcomer David F. S. Wilson, Bloodshot uses the generic superhero movie template to tell a story that’s cerebral, subversive, and most importantly different.

7/10