Back in 1987, Jim Shooter was fired from Marvel Comics. He had a tumultuous tenure as the Editor in Chief which saw a lot of success, but also a lot of enemies made. Two years later he fought his way back into comics with Valiant Comics. Valiant had made a splash and built a following. However, they never managed to get a share of the greater public recognition of companies like Marvel, DC or Image. The company has gone in and out of business, moving from owner to owner. In 2018 the majority owner DMG fully purchased the company and apparently focused on pushing their characters beyond comics. The first of a possible shared universe would be Bloodshot starring Vin Diesel. To be honest…I have one Bloodshot comic book from 1993 and I cannot remember the story at all. I know just enough…he is a super soldier full of nanotech.
We are introduced to Ray Garrison, top soldier who is killed along with his wife after a mission. He wakes up later, told he is the first successful Super Soldier project of his nature. He is introduced to team mate who have high tech enhancements to compensate for lost limbs or sight, or in the case of KT, a specialized breather that both allows her to breath and to be able to breathe gasses and even underwater. When he regains his memory of the murder of his wife, he goes rogue to kill the man who murdered her.
But after accomplishing this, it is revealed that the memories are manipulated by the people responsible for his nano tech. When a mission goes wrong, he learns the depths of the manipulation and is determined to get his life back.
Bloodshot is a very simple tale, and does not really add any new beats. The bad guys are bad, the good guys are fighting against the odds. Guy Pearce does a good job of coming across as possibly a good guy losing control of his work during act one, but clearly a dark and greedy villain once it is all revealed. Eiza González is sympathetic as KT, trapped by her desire to, you know, not die.
Vin Diesel is good in the role, as it kind of plays to his strengths.
David Wilson is a visual effects guy making his feature debut, and he gives us a pretty solid action movie. The effects look good, and I genuinely liked the visuals showing Bloodshot’s powers at work.
The film ends open wide for sequels, but does not hint at a bigger universe, so I am not sure what the future holds for Valiant. But Bloodshot is a fun super soldier action film that makes for light entertainment.