REVIEW #202 Bullet Train (2022)

Ladybird is an assassin who specialises in snatch and grab operations, hired for an assignment, he hopes to complete the job peacefully and without any hiccups. Fate on the other hand, has other ideas and the mission goes off the rails, putting ladybird on a collision course with deadly adversaries. 

Bullet Train is an action comedy that delivers exactly that, free flowing, entertaining action sequences with plenty of comedy executed well by the entire cast. Brad Pitt excels as the lead man and was certainly one of my favourite aspects of the film! He landed every punchline and his combat choreography was spot on. That’s not to take anything away from the rest of the ensemble because they all worked brilliantly together. The dynamic between Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry was great, granted it’s silly back and forth humour but for me it worked incredibly well. There were a couple of characters that were cliche to say the least, Hiroyuki Sanada’s The Elder for example, as well as Michael Shannon as the White Death. It’s a shame because the film itself felt quite unique but those two characters felt very recycled. As far as the storyline goes, I really liked it! Keeping everything limited to the train worked nicely and the plot unfolded at a steady pace, always keeping the audience entertained and on the edge of their seats. By the end of the film everything was tied together nicely and it reached a fair conclusion. The overall aesthetic was another element I loved, from the bold and vibrant typography to the neon colour scheme that suited the Japanese setting wonderfully. Jonathan Sela, the cinematographer, done a great job with the aesthetics (mentioned above) and the action sequences were also captured well, whoever was responsible for the soundtrack deserves a bonus because it really brought the film to life! Now my biggest criticism is how silly some of the action got in the end, defying the laws of physics at times. Don’t get me wrong David Leitch really played on that silliness and didn’t hide from it at all, but I think if they reined it in a bit, the film would have been better received by critics and some fans too. It’s definitely an experience that is worth seeing in the cinema, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and it’s a great addition to the Action comedy genre. 

Overall (8/10)

Thanks for reading.

Callan