Bullet Train; Grade:B
Bullet Train tells a story about an assassin named Ladybug (Brad Pitt) whom has a task, to retrieve a brief case filled with lots of cash on a train known as The Bullet Train. This won’t be no easy task for Ladybug, as he’ll be acquainted with quite a few assassins on board, with their own important objectives as well, that’ll all intertwine with each other.
Though I haven’t watched a full trailer of Bullet Train, from all the television ads and glimpse of the movie posters at hand… I literally had zero desire to see this film, as I was going to treat this film as an excuse to have yet another 4DX experience. Something about the look and tone of this film, didn’t feel like a real movie, as it yet can look like a bizarre cinematic Taco Bell like commercial. Take a film like Nobody for example: Even though the marketing of that film resembled the likes of a Taco Bell commercial, it somehow manages to be a solid action film of 2021. Now here with Bullet Train… It actually follows the same boat, as this is yet another solid action film, that was a pleasant surprise…. Maybe sometimes if a film looks like a Taco Bell commercial, it’s destined to be good, what a world we live in I tell ya.
The main highlight of this film for me is the entertainment value Bullet Train offers to the table. While we can certainly say the action sequences were exciting and fun to watch, you can also say the story telling and the characters written were also extremely enjoyable to watch as well. Bullet Train really has a creative and witty way to introduce our characters, create such bizarre situations that’ll have the mind at questioned how’ll one survive or make it out, or even simply the twists and reveals the audience weren’t expecting. Does it sometimes go a bit too much at times?! It certainly does. Does it bother you in anyway?! Not really, the film is executing a thrilling ride where your mind goes along with it and has a good time following along.
There’s so many characters introduced in this film, yet as a massive surprise all the characters fulfilled a moral purpose in the story, while entertaining and actually having depth to them. It’s really hard to pin point a favorite character since they’re all pretty damn fun to watch. Whether be our leading man Ladybug whom has a soul as you question, why he’s still in this business given his sophisticated mind?! You got the brothers Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry) and Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), whom have a very convincing brotherly bond with wonderful chemistry together, as their Thomas the Tank commentary moments were simply adorable and hilarious. Prince (Joey King) for an innocent looking gal can turn into full savagery at any moment, even the supporting characters whom don’t get enough screen time such as White Death (Michael Shannon), The Elder (Hiroyuki Sanada), and heck Wolf (Bad Bunny)... Their presence all make a massive impact on the story with such little time, that it makes you beg for them to continue on as their storylines and characteristics are so enjoyable to watch really.
There are a couple flaws to discuss. Some scenes can drag on a bit long here and there several times. I wish the film didn’t tend to revive some characters deaths, especially given the deaths were so severe to the point you question if one could actually survive. Some decision making by characters and moments where the mind can be a bit baffled by the spectacle. While I did enjoyed the humor, some of the humor however does miss time to time, especially the beginning.
I kind of understand the critical divide of this film: It can be very bizarre, to the point where the writing can resemble the likes of an anime per say. However: There’s no denying this is one of the better silly grand spectacles, where it actually executes it’s moral purpose of being entertaining as possible, while actually generating a storyline and characters one can simply follow and have a refreshing fun time with in my opinion.
Overall, Bullet Train was a solid action film. I recommend checking this one out, it’s definitely a film worth seeing in the theaters while chowing down on popcorn for sure. -Mitch Smietana