'Bloodshot' - Movie Review

This movie is one of those frustrating beasts where you see what-could-have-been ... but to do so you have to see past what-is. The idea is interesting: a dead soldier (Vin Diesel) is resurrected by replacing his blood with "nanites" (biological micro-machines). Not only does this bring him back to life, but now if he's injured - even catastrophically - he simply re-assembles himself in a matter of seconds.

We open with Ray Garrison (our soldier) - still human, a U.S. Marine - going semi-rogue to save a hostage in Mombasa. Which also proves how effective he is as a warrior. Then he and his wife have a bit of vacation time in Italy ... which is interrupted by a bad guy capturing both of them, killing her in front of him, and then killing him. And then the resurrection. He's supposed to have no memories, but he does, and goes on a vendetta against the bad guy. Except ... all is not as it seems.

It looks okay: the effects are fairly good and the execution is mostly competent. At one point Diesel knew ... approximately ... how to act. But he's been being a manly man in the "Fast and Furious" franchise for so long that all he can do is anger-face and stoic-face ... and he doesn't even make those convincing. He's backed up by a cast of pretty nobodies who aren't particularly good either ... and Guy Pearce. And I have to give some sort of dis-commendation to director David S. F. Wilson, because it takes something to get this crap a performance out of Pearce.

Part of my frustration with the movie is caused by the script's treatment of the programmers. They're arguably the most important people in the entire cast as the ones who actually control Garrison's behaviour (or allow him freedom to be himself as the case may be) but they're treated as the comedic side-kicks because really, it's the people who do physical things that actually matter in the world. Never mind that the most important one of these physical people is manipulated and controlled by others for most of the run-time, they're still down-played comedic filler. It's not quite so bad or insulting as the scientists in "Pacific Rim," but it's up there.

Just all around weak.