Eiza González – Tripping Through Gateways

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.

Set 300 years after all but one “sky city” fell to the earth, Dr. Dyson Ido finds the remains of a cyborg with a still functional human brain. In this future, cybernetic are a part of life, there are many that have cybernetic limbs. Ido runs a clinic helping the people of the earthbound Iron City that is in the shadow of Zalem. He provides her with a body and when she awakens with no memories, he names her Alita.

Alita soon starts to make friends with locals and grow close to Ido as a parental figure. When she discovers she seems to have incredible combat skills and a bit of taste for action, Ido hopes to keep her from learning too much. Especially when she becomes interested in local boy Hugo. Alita is determined to learn who she is, but also finds that she is facing the threat of local crime lord Vector.

Visually, this is a pretty impressive film, which is not to unexpected from a Cameron connected film. Alita looks pretty lifelike, yet at the same time, her design includes eyes that are slightly too big. This works for the character and sells that she has an artificial body, yet a very human brain beneath the shell.

On the other hand, there is one character design that just did not work for me, but the character is ion the scene for a very short time…so I cannot really be too bothered.

I really like the chemistry between Waltz and Salazar. It is very sweet and feels much like a man who is finding a second chance at being a father for someone who may have lived a long time without the love of a parental figure.

The action is very easy to follow, even in high velocity sequences, I never found it confusing. Again, I am not surprised as director Robert Rodriguez is a skilled director of action.

My biggest criticism is that it feels like that, since they knew they were trying to kick off a franchise, they spent most of the movie establishing there world, and the final half of the story was an afterthought. It was as if they reached a point and realized they would have a six hour movie, but still needed a certain resolution for the first film. The final part of the film’s story just seems super rushed, including certain character’s arcs.

Alita Battle Angel is not a perfect film, but it is exciting and has some solid emotional beats (especially in the relationship of Ido and Alita).

Director Edgar Wright is known for his playing with genres, usually via comedy. He has tackled action films through Hot Fuzz, horror through Shaun of the Dead and Sci-Fi with The World’s End. He was long attached to Marvel’s Ant Man (going back before anything called the Marvel Cinematic Universe existed) and instead adapted the indie comic Scott Pilgrim Vs the World.

Here Wright has made a noir heist film. Unlike previous efforts, he plays this film straight. Baby is a skilled getaway driver. He is working off a debt to the enigmatic Doc. Doc is hired to put together teams for heists. Baby has met a beautiful young waitress named Deborah. Baby’s plan is to do a final job and be done with his debt.

Baby is quiet, rarely speaking, and usually just listening to music through his headphones. According to Doc, he suffered an injury to his ears and the music helps him focus on his purpose as a driver.

Baby finds himself forced to do another job for Doc, which ends up going bad. Baby then must find a way to save Deborah and himself and get out from under Doc’s thumb.

Keeping it simple, Wright builds everything around impressive car chases and catchy rock and soul music. The characterization is light, especially in the case of the women. Deborah is the virginal love interest, while Darling is the sexy femme fatale. John Hamm’s Buddy is the character with the most depth, but that is only because he appears to have a bit of diversity to his personality.

Though the characters are not really deep, this serves the the narrative. We don’t need complex characters or motivations, and they would really bog the film down. Instead, Baby Driver is a fun thrill ride with cool driving stunts and a killer soundtrack.

Tag: Eiza González

There Will Be Bloodshot (Bloodshot, 2020)

Sugar and Spite (Alita Battle Angel, 2019)

Live Fast (Baby Driver, 2017)