Y
ou’ve already ripped off every movie cliché
there is!” It’s a line that suggests Bloodshot
writers Jeff Wadlow and Eric Heisserer are fully
aware of the cine-larceny they’re committing:
RoboCop, Memento, Spider-Man 2... they’re nothing if not
diverse in their plundering. Shame, though, that this
Valiant Comics adap doesn’t live up to its precedents.He also can’t remember a thing about
his past, until another blast of Talking
Heads takes him back to that terrible
night, leaving him hell-bent on
vengeance. There are plenty more
twists to come, none of them
particularly original. The casting of
Pearce, a far superior actor than this
deserves, brings to mind 2000’s
Memento; needless to say, the
comparison doesn’t flatter Bloodshot.
Directed by VFX whiz Dave Wilson,
the film fails to rejuvenate its hoary
theme: whatever your past, you can
choose who you want to be. There
are some half-decent set-pieces –
notably a fight in a collapsing lift-shaft- and a fun turn from Lamorne Morris
as a tech nerd. But with Diesel on
autopilot, Bloodshot feels dead on
arrival.CZf^lyFhmmkZf
Vin Diesel plays soldier Ray
Garrison, who’s kidnapped by Toby
Kebbell’s ruthless Martin Axe, who
arrives on camera to Talking Heads’
‘Psycho Killer’. After hounding Ray for
info about his just-completed mission
in Mombasa, Axe proceeds to kill both
him and his wife Gina (Talulah Riley) –
before the opening titles, no less. When
Ray miraculously opens his eyes, he’s
at RST – a hi-tech facility that has the
technology to rebuild him, as they say,
run by Guy Pearce’s free-thinking
scientist Dr. Emil Harting.
Now augmented with super-
strength and ‘Nanites’ in his
bloodstream that restore damaged
cells, Garrison is the ultimate weapon.CERTIFICATE ADIRECTORDaveWilson
STARRINGVinDieselEizaGonzálezToby
KebbellGuyPearceSCREENPLAY
Jeff WadlowEricHeissererDISTRIBUTOR
SonyRUNNINGTIME minsBLOODSHOT
The Return Of The Vin...
OUT NOW
THE VERDICT
The odd spirited turn aside, this is
a throwback to the bad old ’90s days
of comic-book movies.CUCK
OUT 17 APRIL
Writer/director Rob Lambert’s
debut shines a light on incel
culture via a character study of
twentysomething white nationalist
Ronnie (Zachary Ray Sherman).
Living in southern California with
his ailing mother, he posts vlogs
in which he rails against “libtards”,
“feminazis” and immigrants. A
self-styled “true patriot”, Ronnie
is prepared to take up arms to
defend his version of America.
Two hours in the company of such
a hateful protagonist is a tough
ask; dingy lensing and Ronnie’s
endless misfortunes sour the
atmos further. Yet credit Sherman
for bringing out the vulnerability
that lies beneath his subject’s
repellent worldview. Mhf=Zplhg16 BARS
OUT 3 APRIL
Inside a jail in Richmond, Virginia,
hip-hop artist Todd ‘Speech’
Thomas works with a handful of
inmates looking to unlock their
musical potential as a way of
aiding their rehabilitation and,
perhaps, redemption. Sam
Bathrick’s cracking doc bears
more than a passing resemblance
to 2017’s Folsom-set The Work in
its exploration of prisoners’ lives,
excavating the crims’ emotional
depths with surprising tenderness
and intimacy. Particularly
affecting is Teddy, a recovering
addict and abuse survivor who
raps with the soul of a poet, even
as he struggles to outstrip his own
demons. Mbf<he^fZgHe’dhadbetterMondaysSUBSCRIBEATWWWTOTALFILMCOM/SUBSTHE WORLD’S MOST TRUSTED REVIEWS
TOTAL FILM | APRIL 2020SONY,^ JONNY^ TULL,^ DOGWOOF