Bullet Train

**By: Louisa Moore / www.ScreenZealots.com** It takes a lot for a film to surprise me, and I love it when one does. “Bullet Train” is chocked full of so much stylish, bloody, violent fun that it reminds me why I love movies in the first place. Director David Leitch brings a confident, creative vision to his Guy Ritchie-meets-Gareth Evans-meets Matthew Vaughn-meets Quentin Tarantino style that’s rambunctious, frenzied, and in your face. While some will detest this sort of mayhem, many fans of the genre will join me in enthusiastically screaming, “shoot this into my veins!“ Unlucky assassin Ladybug (Brad Pitt) is tired of the brutality. He’s back for another job, but has pledged to work peacefully and without a weapon. Ladybug has been tasked with retrieving a silver briefcase from a high-speed train in Japan, which seems simple enough. Fate steps in, naturally, putting a damper on his well-intentioned plans. The train is filled with the most lethal adversaries (and one deadly snake) from around the globe, and they all want the same thing. Chaos ensues in what may be a literal last man standing scenario. Based on the book by Kôtarô Isaka, the film takes place almost solely onboard a train, but it never feels claustrophobic. Despite tight close-ups and many dialogue-heavy scenes with questionable writing, the cast (including Joey King, Andrew Koji, Michael Shannon, and Hiroyuki Sanada) keeps things engaging. Brian Tyree Henry and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as a pair of professional criminals are particularly entertaining, and Pitt exercises his movie star chops with great aplomb. The storytelling is terrific (one of my favorite bits is the tale of Wolf, which is wonderfully executed), even if everything doesn’t quite come together as well as it could. This is also a gorgeous looking film. Jonathan Sela‘s colorful cinematography is alluring, with a richness that elevates every scene. Leitch is skilled at directing action scenes that are thrilling, and fights that are well choreographed. Even the CGI is exciting. The film reaches just the right balance between action, violence, and humor, and it’s one that I cannot wait to revisit. From the killer soundtrack to the rapid-fire visual storytelling, there’s a lot going on at all times. If you’re not paying attention, you’re guaranteed to miss something. I feel this one could benefit from subsequent viewings. Plus, it’s been a long time since I’ve wanted to rush back to re-watch a movie the second it ended. “Bullet Train” is a film that will prove to be an acquired taste. It’s the type of movie that you’ll either love or loathe, with very few landing somewhere in between. It’s illogical, confrontational, and it’s sometimes evident that the film trying too hard, but I found it easy to overlook the flaws because it’s just so damn entertaining. Talk about a nonstop thrill ride.

I see there are a LOT of reviews of Bullet Train here, so I will be brief. I usually only watch action movies if they contain a large element of humor and, if possible, an actor I like. So I gave Bullet Train a try. I figured Brad Pitt wouldn’t get involved with a totally awful film. So yes, it was humorous and often entertaining, with the comic book violence action films often seem to include, I guess because the audience demands it. I almost gave up on it halfway through, not because it was boring but just because the story seemed so shallow and the subplots didn’t grab me. But the film’s action moved along fast enough for me to stick with it. Like I said, it is entertaining in places and witty overall, though I can’t imagine ever watching it a second time.

This was a fund movie indeed, and quite woke-free at that. The fact that the woke crap site Rotten Tomatoes has marked it as rotten (despite it having more than 50% positive critics reviews) was a good sign of course. It is an action/comedy about an unbelievably unlucky (and a bit stupid) assassin played by Brad Pitt. The movie mixes action, comedy, a bit of suspense and a fair amount of gore in a quite enjoyable package. The movie balances the comedy bits right on the line where it would turn silly and cringe-worthy but there was really only one place where I went “Oh no, what the f…?”. The action bits are overall quite good but this is Hollywood with their armada of clueless script writers so sometimes they get a bit ridiculous. Like being able to hang on to the outside of a bullet train while it speeds away. Although fairly unbelievable and over the top, the core story actually makes some sense but then, it was not written by some Hollywood hack but instead based on a novel. Overall it was a fun movie with a lot of laughs. The end twist with the tangerine truck was absolutely hilarious.