Well this is a very different world we’re living in that I’m writing this vs when I saw this movie. It was our first WFH day, as part of an experiment to see how feasible it was. Part way thru the day, we get the order that WFH will continue for everyone for the next two weeks. The next week we’d be told it was indefinite. I opted to make the trek across town to what I did not know then would be my last trip to Alamo Drafthouse for the foreseeable future. Sure, I could go to the AMC’s nearby, but this is why I had my season pass. Until they shut down the theaters, I’d be there (I actually changed my mind on this later that weekend).
The first few “social distancing” orders were going out, so I’d expected the city to be dead. It wasn’t. Traffic still took an hour (not everyone had started WFH yet) and there were plenty of pedestrians to dodge pulling into the parking structure. The theater was closer to empty tho. I had a row to myself and only a couple parties were there. Unsure whether that was due to social distancing or the film itself. I was torn between the healthy food option or the less healthy but more satisfying one. I decided that I should enjoy the junk while I still could (it also would end up being one of my last such meals) and support the theater and staff (I tried to tip a little extra). What about the movie?
I only saw the trailer for this once. Initially, I’d been thinking that “Vin Diesel comic book movie” might be enough to get me to go, but without really knowing what it was or hearing good buzz, it wouldn’t make my must list. Then I did catch the trailer in a theater and hey this story looks interesting. He’s built and trained up as a super soldier and goes rogue to get revenge for his wife’s death. But it’s not all as it seems. The trailer kinda gives away the story, but I hesitate to do so. I feel like it might have been more interesting to discover in the moment.
And this movie could use all the help it could get for being interesting. Cause the word that kept on coming to mind was “bland”. Honestly, I was trying very hard to enjoy the film, but all I could do was judge it. The storytelling was very uneven, stretching out act one for more than half the movie, then rushing thru the rest. Vin Diesel is great tough guy, but he’s not so great when he’s “acting”. I saw him on the late night circuit afterwards being a total goofball, and it made me want to see some of that personality in his work. Nothing’s coming across.
I did like the idea of the super soldiers on his team, and wanted more of them. They were introduced as having these cool abilities and then we hardly saw them used. The action was very run of the mill. A few cool looking effects, but nothing that blew me away. I just wanted more from this film. For something that’s trying to launch a franchise (sidebar: I hate when single films try to launch a franchise without seeing how it goes. Most of the best long running franchises happened because they were just that good and kept going, or they were carefully planned out and rolled out patiently) it’s not putting a very good foot forward to start.
Bloodshot – \m/ \m/