Movies
[Review] ‘Bloodshot’ Brings Mild B-Movie Fun to Typical Superhero Origin Story
Between the successes of Marvel and DC’s cinematic universes, it’s a little surprising it’s taken so long for other comic publishers to jump into the ring. Enter Valiant Comics’ Bloodshot, an adaptation of the bestselling comic that’s intended to kickstart a series of films. Vin Diesel stars as the eponymous antihero, a super soldier with a tragic past. While Diesel has the star power to lead a major franchise, uninspired action and trappings of the typical superhero origin story threaten to douse the flames of shared universe aspirations.
Ray Garrison (Diesel) loves his career as a special ops soldier. He loves his attractive wife even more, which is why he’s vowed unstoppable revenge on the man responsible for her murder right before his eyes. The killer murders Ray before revenge occurs. Or so he thinks; Ray’s body is donated to RST Corporation, who then successfully resurrects Ray via nanotechnology. The nanites have replaced his blood, making him more durable than before and able to heal instantly. The only catch is that he’s lost his memory, something of which RST Corporation takes advantage. Ray’s quest for revenge becomes murky when he’s unable to determine what’s real and what’s not.
Bloodshot marks the feature debut of director Dave Wilson. His extensive background in visual effects work on video games seems perfectly suited to this property. It plays like a video game, after all. It’s clear a lot of effort went into visualizing the aesthetic and heavy use of glowing reds offset by flat grays, but the lack of directorial experience shows during action sequences. Considering this is an action movie, well, it’s a significant flaw. Wilson chooses two distinct modes of tackling the action sequences; either through super slow-motion to make a character look cool or haphazard shaky cam that obscures the fight choreography.
That this plays out like a video game means that the story unfurls precisely how you think it will. The story is by Jeff Wadlow (Truth or Dare, Fantasy Island), who co-wrote the screenplay with Eric Heisserer (Final Destination 5, Lights Out, Arrival). Even for those unfamiliar with the source comic, the market has been saturated with comic book character origin stories for so long that it’s easy to remain ten steps ahead of Ray the entire narrative. They do spare us from seeing Ray replay the exact same revenge scenario on repeat, luckily.
Though the story might be typical and the visuals fall flat, for the most part, it does have bright spots in the cast. If you’re a fan of Diesel, then you’re already ahead of the game here. Guy Pearce brings affability to his turn as RST Corp leader Dr. Emil Harting, making him more rounded out than your average villain. Lamorne Morris is a scene-stealer as tech wizard turned comedic relief Wilfred Wigans, a much needed ally. The price of admission might be worth it alone for Toby Kebbell’s inspired dance to Talking Heads “Psycho Killer,” though his appearance is minimal beyond that. As for Eiza Gonzalez and Sam Heughan, they’re sadly wasted as stereotypical love interest allies or cartoonish villains, respectively.
Overall, Bloodshot exists somewhere within the realm of B-movie action and video game fare. Much of the cast is likable enough, and the humor successfully goes far in engendering the audience to the film. The superhero origin story has become stale by this point, though, and Wilson and the screenwriters present nothing new. Ray’s transition from soldier to superpowered killer holds no surprises, and the nanites mean the severe damage his body takes in the many battles is rendered bloodless. There’s enough entertainment offered to those looking for mild popcorn fun, but beyond that, it adheres far too closely to the average origin blueprint. This cinematic universe is off to an uneven start.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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