Directed by Dave Wilson – here in his directorial debut – and based on one of Valiant Comics’ most iconic comics, Bloodshot is the film that airs this evening at 9.25pm on Italia 1. Released in 2020, the film also had to deal with distribution problems linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bloodshot, here’s the plot
Raymond “Ray” Garrison (Vin Diesel) was an American soldier with an overall peaceful life, who however was killed during a mission. His life, however, does not end: the man is in fact brought back to life thanks to the use of nanotechnology from the RST Corporation. Now equipped with extraordinary strength and military skills that he didn’t have before, Ray is also able to heal quickly and heal his own wounds: all characteristics that make him not only an unbeatable soldier, but also above all a mercenary to be exploited. And that’s exactly what Dr. Emil Harting does (Guy Pearce); exploits Ray so that the man completes the missions and to ensure this result Harting manipulates Ray’s mind, forcing him to constantly relive his wife’s murder (Talulah Riley) and convincing him every time that the real assassination is the target of the next mission. When, however, Ray meets the young Wilfred Wifans (Lamorne Morris), a scientist who tries to tell him the truth, the super soldier understands that perhaps the RTD is the real enemy to be defeated and that many things have been kept silent from him if not actually kept hidden.
What didn’t work in the film?
Bloodshot is undoubtedly a much loved and respected title among comic book lovers, so there was a lot of anticipation for the film adaptation dedicated to the violent soldier renamed Bloodshot. The film, however, was released at a very delicate time. Not only because, as we said at the beginning, it had to face the closures linked to the Covidbut also because the interest around cinemacomics he had already waned. In fact, the glories of the Marvel Cinematic Universe of the first three phases: spectators were already saturated with that type of stories and would hardly have wanted to invest time and money for a completely new and still in its infancy saga. So the bad timing of the film’s release had already in some way condemned its success and success. According to official data released by Box Office Mojo, Bloodshot, which had a budget of 45 million dollars, managed to gross globally “only” just over 39 million dollars. A real flop, which didn’t even manage to cover the production costs. As stated on the website ofInternet Movie Data Base production had no hope or expectation of earning as much as, e.g. The Avengers, but they hoped for a good opening at the box office so as to be able to move forward with the saga and perhaps create a cinematic universe linked to the Valiant Comics comics. However, the film not only recorded almost embarrassing takings, but it was not even well received by industry critics. On Rotten Tomatoesthe site aggregating reviews from specialized critics, Bloodshot it obtained only 31% approval: not only did the public not go to see it, but the critics also discouraged anyone who was a little curious. Second Forbes one of the reasons for the film’s failure, apart from those already listed, is that Vin Diesel he’s not a real Hollywood star, at least not in the strictest sense of the word. The actor, in fact, is at the helm of a great franchise like that of Fast and Furious, but beyond this and, perhaps, XXX and his participation as a voice actor in Guardians of the Galaxy, his filmography is somewhat limited and his box office successes even more so. If we stay within the pandemic period, Vin Diesel is an actor who does not have the power to attract crowds to the cinema as he did, for example, Tom Cruise, that with Top Gun: Maverick and the last chapter of Mission Impossible it represented a real magnet for dying cinemas. Beyond the saga that made him famous, however, Vin Diesel does not have this power: everyone would go to see the eleventh chapter of Fast and Furious, but few spectators are interested in seeing a film with Vin Diesel just because there’s Vin Diesel. In such a delicate period as that of the pandemic, when doubt and fear were the main feelings that guided the population, a more niche film than the Marvel ones and mainly led by Vin Diesel did not represent a strong enough appeal nor a winning bet . Finally, another reason why the film didn’t work is that, despite its success at home, Bloodshot and Valiant Comics are realities that are not known to the general public, but are aimed above all at a limited pool of fans. If it is easy to imagine many spectators intrigued, for example, by the new film by Batmanas was the case with the film with Robert Pattinsonit’s not as easy to find someone who knows Bloodshot, who is interested in his story enough to spend the money on the ticket price.
Prices which, moreover, have experienced such inflation that going to the cinema is increasingly becoming a luxury, something that pushes the public to select more carefully the titles to which they give their money.
