It’s spoiler-y as heck, mind you. I mean, that BLOODSHOT trailer is in TOTAL SPOILERS mode. You Have Been Warned.
But part of the spoilers apparently were that they actually have a fairly decent concept for a superhero-thriller flick. True, you can see the twist coming from a mile away, but then you always can. I mean, who here was shocked at how CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER went down? Not that this is likely to be as good as that, but my point is that it looks like a decent popcorn flick.
Moe Lane
PS: Although I’d like to see one of these flicks where the Obvious Villain Group turns out… not to be.
Huh. I wasn’t aware Valiant had gotten this far along in their movie. Kinda sucks for Jason David Frank who was playing Bloodshot in the other Valiant thing though.
.
For the non-comic fans, Valiant is a universe that got started back in the early 90s by some ex-Marvel folks (primarily Jim Shooter). It was centered around Gold Key’s old titles (Turok, Solar, Magnus Robot Fighter), but with new characters added in. They did pretty well for a while, then Shooter left and the comic-pocalyse hit and Valiant went dormant for a while. They’ve been purchased and brought back a few times since then. The most recent outing was fairly well planned- tight, six issue series both for trades an so that new readers could get into a series quick. They brought back characters slowly, aside from the Gold Key ones who someone else owns now. Nice multi-media push for the titles. Sponsored RPGs on Twitch. Everything was looking good… and then the original person in charge got pushed out and replaced with folks with the mindset of “Hey! We’ve got a comic book universe! Make movies with our stuff! Are you listening Lionsgate or Sony or or Amazon or Netflix?!?” So hopefully this works for them. Otherwise, I’ll be looking for Valiant 4 or 5.0 in a few years.
…..
.
The villain-redemption-story and/or villain-gritty-origin-excuse-story are too well trod as tropes.
.
“Captain Marvel” made a stab at the “hero-finds-out-they’re-on-the-wrong-side” trope .. but it was a somewhat weak effort.
.
The last one that was well played, that I recall anyway, was the TV series “Alias” …
.
Mew
There isn’t such a thing as a “too well trod trope”.
A trope is a tool, and it is through such tools that stories are crafted. If the tool is used skillfully and thoughtfully, it will be effective.
.
This is especially true when it is a trope often used without thought, and without skill.
The contrast between the well-told tale and the mountains of schlock is glaring.
.
A trope is a tool.
Tossing a hammer out of my toolbox because “hammers have been done to death, and people keep misusing them” would be ridiculous.
.
On the flipside, a trope is *only* a tool for crafting a story.
It is *not* a substitute for the story.
Having 2x4s, nails, plywood, and shingles delivered to your backyard does not mean you have a shed. Unless and until you actually build the blasted thing.
Doesn’t look as much fun as Hardcore Henry. Yes, I know Bloodshot comics came out in the 90s…
“Hey, let’s make another Wolverine movie.”
“Nah. Jackman’s out.”
“No problem. We just take away the claws, the adamantium skeleton, and the healing factor.”
“No.”
“Aw, come on. It’ll be fun.”
“You misunderstand. We leave in the healing factor, and get Vin Diesel. He’ll be so happy to be in a superhero movie where he gets more than one line, he won’t care that we’re ripping off Wolverine.”
“Good point. I’ll call his agent.”
And there you have it. Bloodshot.