Bullet Train (2022)

Rating: 8.1

After what felt like years of seeing the “Bullet Train” trailers (wow did it ever play so much), I finally saw the movie! And honestly… I thought it was awesome! Like let me be clear, it’s nothing crazy, it’s no “Top Gun: Maverick” or “Everything Everywhere”, but it was lots of fun! I just had such a good time watching it that I didn’t even mind that it’s not a great technical film. Sure, it may not be the strongest story, or have the best characters, but damn if it isn’t entertaining! I legitimately had a good time, and thought it was a fun thrill ride to wrap up the summer movie season!

This is easily David Leitch’s best film since “Deadpool 2”, and may even be his best! It’s leagues better than “Atomic Blonde” and “Hobbs and Shaw” for sure, and feels almost like a wannabe Guy Ritchie flick (which works)! The movie is best described in my opinion as “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” meets “Kill Bill”, and I loved the tone and feel it went for! The action was killer, the humour was hilarious, everything just worked perfectly for me! Again, this is not cinematic perfection, but for a summer blockbuster, it’s fun as hell. This movie really is a thrill ride! It has so many crazy twists and turns, and cleverly plays with the idea of Chekhov’s Gun, weaving all the satires together in a fun manner! The film has such witty dialogue and uses non-linear storytelling and flashbacks excellently. I absolutely loved it in the first hour and 30 mins, but unfortunately the last act brought the pace of the movie to a halt. Personally I thought it could have ended without everything in the finale, but I still had a good time with it because of the awesome characters!

The characterization in this film is really strong, characters are all unique and memorable in their own ways. I loved Ladybug, and thought Brad Pitt nailed the performance! I’m loving this chill action hero phase that Brad Pitt is in. The contradiction between his character’s pacifist personality and his violent career was hilarious and played into the plot in such fun ways. He had some awesome action scenes and great comedic moments. I would love to see a sequel to this movie like how “Knives Out” is doing; bringing the lead character to a new set of characters each time. I just loved Pitt and his character so much, I would love to see more! And while Pitt is awesome, it was the twins played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry that absolutely stole the movie! They had some of the best scenes, some of the best jokes, and had the greatest chemistry. I just loved them so much, especially the long running Thomas the Tank Engine joke! All the jokes in this movie hit, it's a great action comedy, and there are even some awesome surprise cameos! The action is great; every scene is edited, filmed and staged in such a way that makes it feel entertaining, stylish and so fresh. I loved the way they would make use of objects in the environment and the lighting was great too! Can’t say the same about the CGI, it was a letdown but that’s a minor thing for me.

This movie was so much fun, a perfect way to end the summer blockbuster season! I’d highly recommend it, and would love to see more from this universe. While it’s not perfect by any means, I had such a good time with it, laughed a lot, enjoyed the great action, and vibed with the epic soundtrack. So it’s a thumbs up from me for “Bullet Train”, a high speed thrill ride of a movie!

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IMDb Rating: 7.5/10

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 54%

RT Audience Score: 77%

Metacritic Score: 49

CinemaScore: B+

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Sony - Columbia Pictures

Directed by David Leitch

Screenplay by Zak Olkewicz

Based on the book by Kotaro Isaka

Cast: Brad Pitt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Joey King, Bad Bunny, Andrew Koji, Michael Shannon, Sandra Bullock, Zazie Beetz, Logan Lerman, Hiroyuki Sanada

Runtime: 2hr 6min

Rating: 14A

Action, Comedy, Thriller

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Five assassins aboard a fast moving bullet train find out their missions have something in common.

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Fun Fact: Director David Leitch and Brad Pitt had a long working relationship before Bullet Train (2022). Leitch has worked as Pitt's stunt double in multiple films including Fight Club (1999), Ocean's Eleven (2001), Troy (2004) and Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). Pitt also made a cameo in Leitch's second directorial effort Deadpool 2 (2018).

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