Introduction

Bloodshot is a 2020 American superhero film based on the Valiant Comics character of the same name.

It is intended to be the first instalment in a series of films set within a Valiant Comics shared cinematic universe.

Directed by David S. F. Wilson (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Jeff Wadlow and Eric Heisserer and a story by Wadlow, the film stars Vin Diesel, Eiza González, Sam Heughan, Toby Kebbell, and Guy Pearce.

It follows a Marine who was killed-in-action, only to be brought back to life with superpowers by an organisation that wants to use him as a weapon.

Outline

After leading a successful rescue operation in Mombasa, U.S. Marine Ray Garrison and his wife Gina travel for a holiday at an Italian beachside town. However, they are kidnapped by a group of mercenaries led by Martin Axe, who demands to know the source of the Mombasa hostage operation. Since Ray is not privy to this information, Axe kills him and Gina.

Ray is later resurrected by Rising Spirit Tech, a company that specialises in developing cybernetic enhancements for disabled US military personnel. The company’s CEO, Dr. Emil Harting, tells Ray that he is the first successful candidate that they have resurrected using a special nanite technology. Ray is also introduced to Dr Harting’s other patients including former US Navy diver Katie (“KT”), whom he strikes a romantic friendship with, and former soldiers Jimmy Dalton and Marcus Tibbs, whom he gets on poorly with.

After experiencing “flashbacks” of Gina and Axe, Ray escapes Rising Spirit’s laboratory in Kuala Lumpur and pursues Axe, seeking to avenge Gina’s death. Using the nanites to slice into computer databases, Ray tracks down Axe to Budapest. After trapping his convoy in a tunnel, Ray kills Axe’s bodyguards before executing the mercenary. He is later recovered by Katie, Dalton and Tibbs, who bring him back to Rising Spirit for reprogramming. In truth, Harting created false memories of Gina’s death as part of a plot to eliminate rivals in Rising Spirit.

After his memories are wiped and reprogrammed, Ray is sent to kill Nick Baris in East Sussex, “remembering” him to be Gina’s killer. Though Ray manages to kill Baris and his bodyguards, Baris has forced computer programmer Wilfred Wigans to build an EMP bomb, which is ignited after Baris’ death, incapacitating Ray and severing communications with Rising Spirit. After “resurrecting” Ray, Wigans reveals that Rising Spirit planted false memories to turn him into a killing machine. Ray also discovers Gina is alive but had left him five years ago and started a family in Westminster.

Growing disillusioned with Harting’s exploitation of Ray, Katie seeks Wigans’ help in taking him down. Meanwhile, Ray is recaptured by Dalton and Tibbs following a pursuit. He is brought back to Rising Spirit’s laboratory for reprogramming, but escapes with the help of Katie and Wigans, who sabotage the reprogramming process and Rising Spirit’s computers. Breaking free, Ray fights Dalton and Tibbs on top of an elevator. Dalton willingly lets Tibbs fall to his death before continuing the fight until Ray punches him down the elevator shaft, killing him. Ray confronts Harting, who manages to drain the nanites, but is killed when the second grenade he shoots at Ray is dismantled by the nanites and dropped directly at his feet. Ray is later rebuilt by Wigans and Katie, and the three then leave in search of a new life.

Trivia

• Development of a Bloodshot film began in 2012, with Jared Leto originally in talks to star in July 2017.
• In March 2018, Diesel was hired to portray the title role, and the rest of the cast joined over the following months.
• Principal photography began on August 6, 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa, and in Prague, Czech Republic, with some filming taking place in Budapest, Hungary in that same month.
• Filming officially wrapped on 25 October 2018.
• Bloodshot was theatrically released in the United States on March 13, 2020, by Sony Pictures Releasing.
• The film received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $29 million worldwide.
• Due to the coronavirus pandemic closing theatres across the globe, Sony made the film available digitally on-demand less than two weeks after it was released theatrically.
• Five days after the release, Sony confirmed that the film will be released digitally on 24 March 2020.
• Over its first three days of home release, the film was the most watched on Amazon Prime and fourth-most on iTunes.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): David S.F. Wilson.
• Producer(s): Neal H. Moritz, Toby Jaffe, Dinesh Shamdasani, and Vi Diesel.
• Writer(s): Jeff Wadlow (story and screenplay) and Eric Heisserer (screenplay).
• Music: Steve Jablowsky.
• Cinematography: Jacques Jouffret.
• Editor(s): Jim May.
• Production: Columbia Pictures, Bona Film Group, Cross Creek Pictures, Annabell Pictures, The Hideaway Entertainment, Original Film, One Race Films, and Valiant Entertainment.
• Distributor(s): Sony Pictures Releasing.
• Release Date: 13 March 2020 (US).
• Running Time: 109 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.