It’s been a while since Brad Pitt has been featured in anything memorable, hasn’t it? Residual relationship issues aside, that is!
It’s nice to see him make a comeback to the silver screen, and while he may not be the Adonis of his youth, he possesses as much onscreen presence as ever.
Pitt’s charisma is just one of the many things that makes “Bullet Train” great. Directed by David Leitch (“Deadpool 2”), this highly engrossing flick is an adaptation of Kōtarō Isaka’s 2010 novel with the quirky original title “MariaBeetle”.
As the name of the film suggests, much of the action takes place aboard one of Japan’s bullet trains. Pitt’s Ladybug is a professional thief, tasked with stealing a briefcase of money from the baggage compartment.
As it turns out, he is not the only rogue on the train, and certainly not the only one with an interest in the briefcase. When gangsters, mercenaries, thieves and assassins bump into each other onboard the confines of the high-speed vehicle, some wonderful carnage ensues.
The colourful cast of characters is a strong selling point, with Pitt playing the hapless everyday criminal who just wants to get off the train and get paid.
He’s far from the sort of guy who would draw attention from Mexican cartel enforcers such as “The Wolf” (Benito A Martínez Ocasio), which makes his confusion over why people are after him all the more hilarious.
And then there’s Hornet (Zazie Beetz), a top-tier poisoner who owns a deadly snake. Yes. Snakes on a train.
Adding to the entertainment value is the fact that viewers know what the characters do not, and are, therefore, aware of when a character chooses a bad option over a good one.
Indeed, the film is largely themed around the idea of luck and fate being beyond one’s control. “You never know what horrible fate your bad luck saved you from,” one character says to Ladybug after the latter is bitten by the abovementioned snake.
Still, “Bullet Train” is hardly an exploration of philosophy, as evidenced by the witty banter between mercenary twins Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry) and Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).
Much credit has to be given to these two, as their interactions add heart and humour to a film that’s brimming with it. Case in point: Lemon loves his trains, much to Tangerine’s annoyance; who would have thought Thomas the Tank Engine could be a relevant topic of discussion in a movie filled with death and violence?
Speaking of which, Leitch certainly makes good use of his experience working on “Deadpool 2” to bring to life some gleefully violent scenes. One in particular starts as an argument between Lemon and Tangerine about the exact number of people they killed on their last mission.
And so begins an over-the-top montage featuring the two cutting down waves of gangsters, all while Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Pretty Ribbons” plays in the background.
The fight scenes in “Bullet Train” are a barrel of laughs, with one in particular featuring Ladybug and Lemon brawling it out as silently as possible in a quiet car.
In “Deadpool 2”, there was a sequence where the title character’s ragtag crew of superheroes ends up dying in horrible ways. In “Bullet Train”, the audience is left to guess which character is next on death row; none of them is given plot armour as they are all very much mortal.
In fact, one of them dies just five minutes after they are introduced, and in the silliest way possible! On the opposite scale of mortality, certain characters presumed dead have the chance of showing up alive later on. On this wild ride, nothing is as it seems.
It’s clear “Bullet Train” wants the audience to have fun, and it achieves this objective splendidly. Even Ladybug’s interaction with the wonders of a Japanese toilet is worth a chuckle or two.
If there are any grouses, it’s that there’s a fine line between being amusing and annoying, and the antics in “Bullet Train” might eventually wear out their welcome for some.
There are also moments that are too over-the-top for an already over-the-top film, and that’s not even counting Michael Shannon’s performance as a wild-haired Russian gangster.
Still, for every flaw, “Bullet Train” will provide five laughs, making it a great watch overall. And as a bonus, keep your eyes peeled for two appealing cameos – think a male stripper and a talkative mercenary!
‘Bullet Train’ is screening in cinemas nationwide.