WMS

Bloodshot

2020 · Directed by Dave Wilson

🧘8

Woke Score

44

Critic

🍿51

Audience

Ultra Based

Critics rated this 36 points above its woke score. Among Ultra Based films, this critic score ranks #1274 of 1469.

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Consciousness MeterUltra Based
Ultra BasedPeak Consciousness
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Synopsis

After he and his wife are murdered, marine Ray Garrison is resurrected by a team of scientists. Enhanced with nanotechnology, he becomes a superhuman, biotech killing machine—'Bloodshot'. As Ray first trains with fellow super-soldiers, he cannot recall anything from his former life. But when his memories flood back and he remembers the man that killed both him and his wife, he breaks out of the facility to get revenge, only to discover that there's more to the conspiracy than he thought.

Consciousness Assessment

Bloodshot arrives as a straightforward action vehicle designed with surgical precision to deliver exactly what the title promises: spectacle without substance. The film concerns itself with nanotechnology, memory manipulation, and corporate conspiracy, yet none of these elements function as vehicles for cultural commentary. Ray Garrison's resurrection and subsequent quest for vengeance follows the most traditional of Hollywood formulas, with his wife's death serving as narrative fuel rather than opportunity for anything resembling thematic complexity. The diverse casting, while present, operates as window dressing rather than meaningful representation, with supporting characters of color performing their designated roles without challenging the film's fundamental conservatism.

What emerges from the narrative is a film entirely uninterested in interrogating its own premises. The military-industrial conspiracy that drives the plot exists purely as plot mechanics, not as social critique. The female characters remain peripheral to the central action, their presence acknowledged but their agency severely circumscribed. Even the film's exploration of consciousness and memory, potentially rich thematic territory, remains superficial, deployed only to justify the protagonist's emotional arc and combat sequences. The film is competently assembled, technically proficient, and utterly devoid of anything resembling progressive sensibility or cultural awareness.

The score reflects a film that exists in a fundamentally pre-2015 ideological space, updated only with contemporary action cinematography and visual effects. No marker of modern progressive consciousness penetrates its surface. Bloodshot operates as an artifact of pure entertainment machinery, neither offensive nor engaged, a product designed to be consumed and forgotten without leaving any cultural residue whatsoever.

Analysis generated by our Consciousness Algorithm

Critic Reviews

44%from 35 reviews
Variety70

Bloodshot is a trash compactor of a comic-book film, but it’s smart trash, an action matrix that’s fun to plug into.

Owen GleibermanRead Full Review →
Austin Chronicle67

So much of the movies is the right kind of entertaining, with the right kind of actors playing the right kind of second-tier blockbuster roles, that Bloodshot cannot help but be a cult classic in the making. This is Hollywood escapism at its finest at a time when we need it the most.

Matthew MonagleRead Full Review →
The New York Times60

Bloodshot runs out of meta tricks before it is over, and David S.F. Wilson, who borrows his visual vocabulary from Tony Scott and Michael Bay, delivers action sequences with such choppy continuity that viewers may be as confused as Ray. He deserves bonus points, however, for embracing silliness.

Ben KenigsbergRead Full Review →
The Playlist25

The superhero film equivalent of the worst kid at the playground.

Charles BarfieldRead Full Review →

Consciousness Markers

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Representation Casting35

The cast includes Eiza González in a supporting role and Lamorne Morris as a fellow soldier, providing some ethnic diversity. However, the lead remains a white male action hero, and the female characters are largely sidelined in a traditional revenge narrative.

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LGBTQ+ Themes0

No LGBTQ+ themes, characters, or representation are present in the film. The narrative centers entirely on heterosexual relationships and male-dominated action sequences.

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Feminist Agenda0

The film contains no feminist agenda or commentary. The protagonist's wife exists primarily as motivation for the male hero's revenge plot rather than as a developed character with agency.

Racial Consciousness15

While the cast includes actors of color, there is no explicit racial consciousness or commentary in the narrative. The diverse casting appears incidental rather than thematic or intentional.

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Climate Crusade0

No climate-related themes or environmental consciousness are present in this military revenge thriller.

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Eat the Rich15

The film touches on military-industrial conspiracy and corporate malfeasance as part of its plot mechanics, but these elements serve the revenge narrative rather than offering systemic critique.

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Body Positivity0

The film presents no body positivity messaging. The protagonist is depicted as an idealized muscular action hero, and no alternative body types or positive representation of diverse physicality appear.

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Neurodivergence0

No neurodivergent characters or themes are present. The narrative does not engage with disability, mental health, or neurodiversity.

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Revisionist History0

This is a fictional superhero narrative with no historical content or revisionist elements. It makes no claims about real historical events.

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Lecture Energy0

The film does not engage in preachy social commentary or lecture the audience about social issues. It is a straightforward action-revenge narrative.