“Bloodshot” is the quintessential action movie. It is plot-driven with great chase scenes and visual effects. The romance is kept to a minimum as is most other character development. In the end, what you are left with is a fast-paced techno-thriller that entertains its audience.

The story begins with soldier Ray Garrison (Vin Diesel) on location in Kenya. He successfully ends a hostage situation by killing the terrorist and freeing his victim.

We next see him as he disembarks from a military plane in Italy, where he meets his wife Gina (Talulah Riley). They go off to the Amalfi coast to relax. They are seen vacationing in a virtually wordless montage. Yet their love for each other is clear. Then one morning his wife is out of their room. While Ray does his toiletries, he is assaulted and taken prisoner.

Next we see a maniacal person, Martin Axe (Toby Kebbell) dancing to the Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” as he walks toward the restrained Ray, whose wife also has been taken captive. Axe wants to know who gave the information about the Kenya location to Ray’s team.

Ray does not know or at least says as much. Axe threatens to kill Ray’s wife and then does so in front of Ray. Enraged, Ray states that Axe had better kill him now or he would hunt him down and kill him. Axe calmly points a pistol at Ray’s forehead and pulls the trigger.

When Ray wakes up again, to the marvel of the audience, he is in an unknown laboratory. In walks Dr. Emil Harting (Guy Pearce), who is amazed that they finally resurrected a dead man. They did so by replacing Ray’s blood with nanites, which heal him as soon as he is harmed. However, he loses energy every time they act and then needs to be recharged.

Harting works at RST, where they work at developing the latest in human weaponry. Ray is introduced to other colleagues, notably KT or Katie (Elza Gonzalez) and Jimmy Dalton (Sam Heughan—Jamie on “Outlander”). KT has an advanced breathing system that makes her impervious to gases, and Dalton has prosthetic legs that are not only fast but super-maneuverable.

Ray is adapting to his new life without his wife when he sees KT swimming. They are talking when Ray hears “Psycho Killer’ over the sound system. Triggered, he steals a vehicle and then a Gulfstream. Using his heightened technology, he devours a flight manual and takes off. He discovers, again through his new abilities, that Axe is in Hungary.

Axe is in a vehicle that is in the middle of a convoy designed to protect him. Ray encounters them in a tunnel. In a protracted scene of mayhem and fighting, Axe is executed by Ray.

Ray’s power is nearly down to zero after all of the punishment he endured. He meets the team, which tracked him, at an abandoned airfield. Back at RST, he is unconscious as he is re-energized.

However, all is not as it seems. Ray is being manipulated through memory insertion into killing enemies of RST. Will he find out and what will he do if he finds out?

“Bloodshot” is based on a comic put out by Valiant Entertainment. I was not familiar with this character, but in my background research saw that the picture took some liberties in adaptation.

At one point I wondered if this movie could be classified as “science fiction.” This made me reflect on the fact that while it may be fictional, the divide between what was fiction in science in the 1950’s and what is fiction in science in the 2020’s has changed considerably. Prosthetic technology and virtual reality are now part of our landscape, if not as advanced as in this picture.

Speaking of virtual reality, there is a beautiful scene in this film where Dr. Harting is talking to Ray while he simultaneously crafts a completely believable world around them. We are not quite to the point of holodecks, where, to my belief, no one having created their ideal world would ever emerge into boring “reality” again. Yet this movie, with its insertion of false memories as vivid as real ones, describes another way in which we could be virtually immersed.

The visual effects are top-notch. I particularly liked the animation of the nanites in Ray’s blood. The production design is very good as a complement to the CGI. The chase scenes rely heavily on visual effects, and so do not seem as life-like as they would otherwise.

Vin Diesel is well-cast as Ray. He can be alternately cuddly with his wife Gina and menacing when he goes on the rampage. The same down-to-earth quality that he brings to “The Fast and the Furious” franchise is on display here.

The film does not waste time on character development. So the other actors perform well as archetypes but there is nothing notable. Lamorne Morris as Wilfred Wigans, a computer expert introduced later in the film, is good as comic relief but never gets to fully evolve.

The action is often non-stop. Yet there is a minimum of gore, as evidenced by the PG-13 rating, perfect for this movie. The script does not spend much time on exposition, always a blessing.

This picture is not particularly innovative or challenging in any way. But as an action film that deals with futuristic technology, it is very entertaining. I would agree with the PG-13 rating and say that this is OK for teenagers, but not for younger ages.

Three out of five stars

Based on the bestselling comic book, Vin Diesel stars as Ray Garrison, a soldier recently killed in action and brought back to life as the superhero Bloodshot by the RST corporation. With an army of nanotechnology in his veins, he’s an unstoppable force –stronger than ever and able to heal instantly. But in controlling his body, the company has sway over his mind and memories, too. Now, Ray doesn’t know what’s real and what’s not – but he’s on a mission to find out.