Bloodshot: I've always found Vin Diesel to be a more engaging screen presence than most. Sure he's pretty stoic, but he has kind of a rugged charisma that has allowed him to be a formidable lead over the years. That being said, the man has limits as an actor. He's not a Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham or Arnold Schwarzenegger-type of action hero that has the chops to pull off drama when called upon. That inability to pull off serious acting is exposed throughout Bloodshot. Turns out Diesel's #1 kryptonite as a performer is having to act angry. Roughly half of his dialogue is yelled here and he sounds more like a mellow dad trying to discipline his kids without compromising their status as the cool parent than a deceased solider whose been reanimated with a variety of superhuman powers (increased strength, healing ability, etc.) that discovers the company that brought him back to life has a secret sinister agenda for him.
Thankfully for Diesel, the efforts of his carefully-chosen collaborators that he touts as his family helped overshadow some of the damage done by his sloppy performance. Director Dave Wilson makes good use of his special effects background by filling the film with cool visuals, the fight team headed by Justin Yu were creative enough with their choreography that it couldn't even be ruined by the wonky editing/camera work and the solid supporting cast (Eiza Gonzalez, Lamorne Morris, Guy Pearce, Sam Heughan) bring some much-needed magnetism to the proceedings. Hopefully Diesel will sit back and reflect before he takes on another project that doesn't adhere to the jokey, over-the top playbook that has made Fast and Furious and xXx work. Despite Bloodshot somehow being able to be a mild success in spite of him, he might not be so fortunate next time.
Grade: B-
The Hunt: Remember when The Hunt, the Blumhouse film about rich liberals kidnapping and hunting "deplorables" that posted pro-conservative things online got pulled from its late September release date last fall because it was believed that it was going to incite violence. Of course not because 80 zillion awful things have happened in the world since then. Even if it was released in a less apocalyptic time, the controversy surrounding The Hunt likely would've died out rapidly once people actually saw the finished product. For a film with such an intentionally incendiary concept, it's oddly neutral from a political standpoint. It pretty much just takes some light, obvious digs at the behavior of people on both sides of the aisle who love to spew uninformed takes on the internet then sits on the sidelines while these dueling bands of idiots sling insults and try to kill each other. As unexpected as this was, taking a borderline apolitical approach results in a message that isn't particularly deep at best and nonexistent at worst.
While it's not a particularly insightful or biting piece of satire, The Hunt does work pretty well as a sleazy genre movie. Craig Zobel crafts some tense action scenes that don't skimp on over-the-top gore, both of the leads (Betty Gilpin as the badass protagonist with a lethal secret, Hilary Swank as the petty, ruthless leader of the group that puts the hunt together) crush their roles and at just 90 minutes in length, it wastes no time dicking around with unnecessary subplots, exposition or cheap attempts at redeeming any of its characters. Basically, The Hunt is a fun B-movie that narrowly avoids greatness because of its misguided attempts at satire.
Grade: B
The Platform: Before I actually review The Platform, I'm going to take some time to condemn the practice of dubbing. It's so distracting and obnoxious to watch a movie where it's clear that the words coming out of the speakers aren't in the language that the people on screen are speaking. Believe or not, I am literate, so at least give me the god damn option to watch a movie that isn't in English with subtitles you uncultured dinks.
Moving on... Unlike The Hunt, The Platform is a subtlety-free allegory about the grave injustices of capitalism. The film is set in a dystopian future where Spain's prisons are tiered, food is served on a platform that drops into the inmates cell once a day and inmates are moved to a different level every 30 days. The two prisoners in each cell can only eat while the platform is on their level and any attempt to keep food after the platform has left your level results in an extreme unlivable temperature (either hot or cold) change until that item has been removed from their cell. This system results in the top floors gorging themselves and refusing to help out those below them while those on the lower floors either starve or literally eat each other alive. This vicious cycle is threatened when a compassionate new inmate (Ivan Massague) tries to rally his fellow inmates against this barbaric system and send a defiant message to the head of the prison.
Maybe it's because we're in the midst of an unprecedented crisis in modern times where capitalism is allowing for the disgusting exploitation and shunning of the needs of American citizens, but The Platform just didn't connect with me. As admirable as its message is, it's told in a very one-note fashion and even as the brutally gory flourishes ramp up, it becomes more of a directionless slog as it goes along until it concludes on an unbelievably limp note that considerably weakens its condemnation of the whole system. The complete waste of a great, relevant premise makes The Platform a particularly crushing disappointment.
Grade: C+
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