Bullet Train (B- or 2.5/4 stars)
'Bullet Train' (directed by David Leitch) is a violent action/comedy thriller where various assassins aboard the titular Tokyo vessel are seeking the same pivotal briefcase. 1st up is an American killer, Ladybug (Brad Pitt), who wants to turn over a new 'peaceful' leaf, yet takes this job by his handler (voiced by a very famous female star) to retrieve said briefcase, anyway. Also aboard are 'twin brother' assassins Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) & Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry), 2 deadly British blokes who currently possess the briefcase along with the adult son (Logan Lerman) of a feared crime boss known as White Death (Michael Shannon). White Death is the target of yet another killer, The Prince (Joey King), who's posing as an innocent schoolgirl.
She wants White Death dead and has set-up one of his employees, Kimura (Andrew Koji), to kill him; you find out why later on. Kimura boarded the train to find who pushed his young son off a building; an act that left the boy in the hospital and his grandfather, The Elder (Hiroyuki Sanada), bitterly disappointed in his son. Additional killers include unhinged Mexican assassin, The Wolf (Benito A. Martinez Ocasio), who's there to avenge his bride's murder, and The Hornet (Zazie beetz), who kills via injections of a lethal snake venom ... and the snake is loose on the train! Ladybug is sure that all of this helps prove that he is a bad luck magnet and, it's uncertain who'll make it off the train unscathed by the time it reaches Kyoto. Bloody chaos ensues.
From the jump, 'Bullet Train' is a 2 hour barrage of fights, witty repartee & gleefully bloody mayhem. It is a bit too long for what it is. Its puzzle-like structure is needlessly complicated. And the 1st 20 minutes are irksome {trying to get a handle of the rapid fire cockney-accented dialogue was a chore}. And YET, the whole thing improves as it goes. The action is well executed. And I enjoyed Brad Pitt's dopey, languorous performance. His Ladybug can tussle with the best of 'em, but he is more of a talker than a fighter; always looking to make things easier for himself. It is important to have him as the anchor of the story, while all the craziness is happening around him {or too him}. Pitt is fun, but so too is the rest of the cast.
At times, 'Bullet Train' plays like a manic mash-up of, say, Deadpool, Hobbs & Shaw, Guy Ritchie flicks & even some Quentin Tarantino thrown in for good measure. That might not appeal to some audiences ... it actually didn't appeal to me. But I mildly enjoyed the ride, anyway. I would even say that I enjoyed it more than most superhero movies as of late. Why? Because it comes in with zero pretentions. It knows what kind of movie it is and makes no apologies. So yeah, once I acclimated to the dialogue style & the tone of the film ... the stellar fight sequences, comedic elements, cameo appearances {several made me chuckle}, & carefree performances got me through. For better or worse, mindless entertainment is what this was.
She wants White Death dead and has set-up one of his employees, Kimura (Andrew Koji), to kill him; you find out why later on. Kimura boarded the train to find who pushed his young son off a building; an act that left the boy in the hospital and his grandfather, The Elder (Hiroyuki Sanada), bitterly disappointed in his son. Additional killers include unhinged Mexican assassin, The Wolf (Benito A. Martinez Ocasio), who's there to avenge his bride's murder, and The Hornet (Zazie beetz), who kills via injections of a lethal snake venom ... and the snake is loose on the train! Ladybug is sure that all of this helps prove that he is a bad luck magnet and, it's uncertain who'll make it off the train unscathed by the time it reaches Kyoto. Bloody chaos ensues.
From the jump, 'Bullet Train' is a 2 hour barrage of fights, witty repartee & gleefully bloody mayhem. It is a bit too long for what it is. Its puzzle-like structure is needlessly complicated. And the 1st 20 minutes are irksome {trying to get a handle of the rapid fire cockney-accented dialogue was a chore}. And YET, the whole thing improves as it goes. The action is well executed. And I enjoyed Brad Pitt's dopey, languorous performance. His Ladybug can tussle with the best of 'em, but he is more of a talker than a fighter; always looking to make things easier for himself. It is important to have him as the anchor of the story, while all the craziness is happening around him {or too him}. Pitt is fun, but so too is the rest of the cast.
At times, 'Bullet Train' plays like a manic mash-up of, say, Deadpool, Hobbs & Shaw, Guy Ritchie flicks & even some Quentin Tarantino thrown in for good measure. That might not appeal to some audiences ... it actually didn't appeal to me. But I mildly enjoyed the ride, anyway. I would even say that I enjoyed it more than most superhero movies as of late. Why? Because it comes in with zero pretentions. It knows what kind of movie it is and makes no apologies. So yeah, once I acclimated to the dialogue style & the tone of the film ... the stellar fight sequences, comedic elements, cameo appearances {several made me chuckle}, & carefree performances got me through. For better or worse, mindless entertainment is what this was.