Assassin, codenamed Ladybug. The lucky bug, but Brad Pitt’s character feels nothing of the sort. Even after a lengthy break filled with therapy sessions, he still feels a dark cloud of tainted fortune hovering about him. But he’s ready for a new mission, a mission on a bullet train.
A train that only reinforces his opinion of his lot in life, as it’s full of other assassins. Some nasty, some cuddly. Let the mayhem begin. And it does and it is red, but does Bullet Train offer much more?
The central pillar of this movie is its violence. And I’m happy to say it does it well. The fight choreography is creative, skillful, and funny. It needed to be the heavy lifter and it gets Bullet Train over the line. But is that enough? Does that make it worth the loss of those bank numbers and the distraction of someone coughing two rows back? That is a tougher question to answer.
So, we just ticked the box of action what about characters and dialog? Here I found Bullet Train to be a little frustrating. The desire to be a new Tarantino or Guy Richie movie is just so desperate. It just kept distracting me. If anything, Bullet Train gave me even more reason to respect those guys. They do it so effortlessly that you can easily forget the skill behind it all. I need to say that it’s not terrible or cringy, it is just not memorable. I’m already struggling to remember many moments and I cannot recall any quotes or the little character anecdotes.
The actors were all fine and all, and I’m usually a Brad fan. I was excited to see him in this project as I know he can do an ingesting character. I was secretly hoping for him to resurrect his Twelve Monkeys character. Ladybug had the opportunity to be a great, but it was squandered. I did like his subplot of is he lucky or unlucky which made him just interesting enough. So again, I am stuck with a review of a movie that I neither hate nor love.
I can just sum it up by saying, things go bang, people make faces, they say things and sometimes I laugh. Other times I eat popcorn, drink soda and try not to cough. Bullet Train good. 7.