Bullet Train
Starring Brad Pitt, Joey King and Sandra Bullock
Rated MA15+
Based on the novel Maria Beetle by Kotaro Isaka, Bullet Train is a thrilling, funny action comedy with an overcomplicated plot.
An assassin, codenamed “Ladybug” (Brad Pitt), accepts one last job on the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto, but gets caught up in a web of schemes among several other hitmen.
Pitt projects laidback charisma as Ladybug, playing a skilled killer doggedly trying to turn over a new leaf and embrace peace even as chaos erupts around him. Ladybug is both incredibly lucky and far too trusting, qualities which work for and against him (respectively) as an action hero and add to the humorous tension.
The entertaining ensemble cast bounces off each other with witty dialogue and fast-paced, exciting action sequences, which make frequent use of physical comedy. Joey King is compelling as Prince, a manipulative lone gun in the guise of a schoolgirl, and Aaron Taylor Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry have amusing chemistry as Tangerine and Lemon, two adversarial brothers who mean the world to each other.
John Wick, a series which Bullet Train clearly takes after, has a layer of dark satire to its world-building; Bullet Train is more overtly comedic than John Wick, but suffers from the forced, muddy world-building of John Wick 3.
The stop-and-start pacing (while mostly effective, given the train setting) results in some characters slipping from your memory. The schemes and plot-points weave together well toward the end, but the many vendettas blur together, and the back-story involving the overarching antagonist White Wolf (Michael Shannon) is very convoluted.
A fun character-driven action comedy with an unfocused plot, Bullet Train is screening in most Victorian cinemas.
– Seth Lukas Hynes
