Bullet Train – Movie Review

Bullet Train delivers plenty of violence while taking you through modern-day Japan.

Bullet Train is an action mystery-thriller from director David Leitch. He is known for co-directing John Wick and helming Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Hobbs & Shaw, and Nobody. This film stars Brad Pitt and features an all-star cast such as Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Benito A Martínez Ocasio, and Sandra Bullock. It is based on the Japanese novel Maria Beetle  and will be in theaters starting August 5th.

Synopsis

In Bullet Train, Brad Pitt stars as Ladybug He is an unlucky assassin determined to do his job peacefully after one too many gigs gone off the rails. Fate, however, may have other plans, as Ladybug’s latest mission puts him on a collision course with lethal adversaries from around the globe, all with connected yet conflicting objectives on the world’s fastest train.

Bullet Train was billed as a non-stop thrill ride but is more of a slow burn with great action sprinkled throughout. The real fun does not occur until the final act. Additionally, the long runtime will make you check out at times. The action and fights are not as constant as the trailers make them out to be. Again, this is due to the over 2-hour runtime. But do not fret as there is plenty of violent action. Taking plenty of inspiration from the John Wick franchise, the highly violent Bullet Train puts the spotlight on a light-hearted Brad Pitt. His character is hired for a job due to the previous task taker not being available. The movie boasts an impressive cast, but it also means it spends time establishing everyone’s back story and splitting up the screen time amongst them.

The movie is well written with cleverly placed humor and interactions among the characters. There are also some surprising cameos; if you watched The Lost City this year, you are in for a treat. However, I was highly disappointed with Karen Fukuhara’s minuscule role in this movie. Despite being featured on the first teaser poster and one of The Boys’ stars, blink, and you will miss her performance. The film is a fun and wild ride with ridiculous twists and turns.

Verdict

I give Bullet Train 3 out of 5 stars. Sitting at 2 hours and 4 minutes, make sure you bring plenty of snacks to consume. Nonetheless, it is a mysterious thrill ride delivering a Brad Pitt that gets better with age.

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