This review is brought to you by Krissy Rechtlich

BLOODSHOT– RATED PG-13 – 1 hour 49 minutes
DIRECTOR: Dave Wilson
WRITERS: Jeff Wadlow & Eric Heisserer
STARRING:  Vin Diesel, Guy Pearce, & Martin Axe

A man whose wife was murdered by a gang of misfits. He is granted superpowers by a secret government entity and gains the ability to heal rapidly. Then he initiates a psycho-revenge rampage on those who murdered his wife. Where have I heard this storyline before?

This film starts off as a more serious version of Deadpool with a little bit of Jason Bourne twisted in. Vin Diesel is his usual Vin Diesel self: strong, stoic, and heroic. While his portrayal of Ray Garrison isn’t necessarily lacking, the personality of the character was vanilla and only moderately complicated at best. He’s a soldier; therefore, it’s not altogether surprising that he should be serious and capable with a one-track mind. The problem is that it’s a character you’ve seen a thousand times before. Most of the other characters, however, are very enjoyable. Most of them, mind you. At least three are generic, basic super-hero stereotypes. The actors did fine and they were still entertaining – but, again, the personalities are ones you’ve seen a thousand times already.

(Side note: Lamorne Morris was my FAVORITE addition to this film. His delivery and personality was incredible and I can’t say enough nice things about him)

After the first half-hour, the plotline picks up immensely. It finally begins to go into a somewhat original and unpredictable storyline. The writers could have done a better job, in my opinion, but the editing is superb. They definitely took some tips from the movie Deadpool with fast action scenes and random emphasized significance on minor details that keep the viewers attention focused. It’s these moments where you really start to root for Ray and become invested in the plot. While there are some definitely flashy, in your face, special effects where Diesel’s perfect face gets destroyed and brought back together again, other types of editing were included in the ‘sequences’ of Diesel’s mind. Simply fascinating, impressive, and alluring.

After contemplating on this movie, the biggest issue seems to be plot holes. There were a lot of facts about this new “government” organization and the characters, themselves, that could and should have been explained. Hence why I say the writing could have been better. There was no clear explanation as to why these ‘targets’ were being chosen for Vin Diesel’s character to eliminate. Vague suggestions were alluded to but constantly leave the viewer still asking – why? I love a good government conspiracy and cover-up. This is not one that makes the cut for me.

 Overall, I did enjoy this movie. The ending was cheesy and left me slightly disappointed; however, if you’re an action and/or superhero fan, definitely catch this on the big screen. If you’re only a passive fan of the aforementioned, I would still suggest seeing it on the big screen, as its action scenes are meant for that mode, but would not buy it for your home collection.

I would rate this a 6.5/10. Entertaining, but definitely not Vin Diesel’s best film.