Bullet Train – A Stupid But Fun Action Comedy

When it comes to big summer blockbusters, audiences would rather be entertained than think, not that thinking is an inherently bad thing. They just want to turn their brains off and surrender for 2 or so hours. When it comes to Bullet Train, based on the book by Kôtarô Isaka, it certainly fits the bill. While not a perfect film by any means, it delivers a fun ride in spite of its issues. Boosted by a great cast, this brutal action comedy offers plenty of thrills and well-choreographed action. However, its incredibly stupid story will likely be a point of contention though most will surely look past that. Bogged down by so much exposition, the film achieves the occasional combo of doing both too much and too little in trying to make it more elaborate than it truly needed to be when most of that subtext will inevitably be lost by audiences anyway. Above all else, the film is fun and that is what most audiences will remember. That being said, if there is a one knock against it, it perhaps tries to hard to be a quip fest which doesn’t always land.

Bullet Train saw assassins board a seemingly innocuous bullet train going from Tokyo to Kyoto on seemingly different missions which little did they know, were connected in some way. However, their connection started long before that as their lives were all leading up to their encounters on the train. Offering flashback backstories for a lot of the characters, the film would get bogged down as it appeared to be more interested in setting them up than the story meant to connect them together. Though it could have approached this exposition in a more concise way, these backstories were far more interesting than the actual present story. Maybe it was to distract from how thin it is but most audiences probably won’t notice or mind. While surprisingly elaborate, the tight confines of the train created an interesting dynamic in terms of story and action. What started off as a mission to retrieve a briefcase from the train became so much more for Ladybug (Pitt).

That briefcase merely opened the door for more characters connected to it. A game of hot potato involving plenty of conniving and backstabbing eventually took a backseat as the goal was survival. Something or someone was waiting for them on the other end of the train’s journey therefore the only question was who would survive by then because clearly not everyone would. Much of the fun of Bullet Train was that journey as everything slowly began to fit together. From there, the quip fest really began and for the most part, it was entertaining to watch despite being incredibly stupid and silly at times. Keeping its cards close to the vest, the film offered a fair share of twists and turns as well as surprise cameos to keep audiences and its characters on their toes. Grounding the story, Ladybug was an unwitting participant who initially wasn’t supposed to even be on the train therefore found himself wildly out of his element. Nevertheless, he needed to use his wits and a little bit of luck to find a way to maneuver through all that craziness. Suffice it to say, it definitely wasn’t easy.

The sense of style of Bullet Train was also a highlight. The characters are so cool that it only makes sense that it looked just as cool. Its neon-soaked setting inside and out was beautiful to look at, making the train itself another character in the story. Full of many nooks and crannies, some great production design allows the film to utilize all of them in inventive ways as that constrained setting forces filmmakers to be creative to its benefit. The fight choreography was well done, taking account of the setting and environment as the camerawork keeps up with all of it. Meanwhile, the flashback scenes created an interesting contrast. The train scenes were brutal but these scenes were even more so. Where the film falters is its climax as it essentially devolves from what got it to that point and becomes a different film altogether.

What ultimately holds Bullet Train together is its performances with Pitt leading the way as Ladybug though he wasn’t alone as he is accompanied by a great cast across the board. In a role unlike what is commonly seen from him, Pitt brings his trademark charm and screen presence to a smartass type with a keen ability to survive anything. While he was fun to watch, the real scene-stealers were Henry and Taylor-Johnson as twin contractors known as Lemon and Tangerine. Simply riffing off of one another, their fantastic chemistry made for a blast of a dynamic worthy of carrying a film on their own. Though others came and went just to deliver a few quips, those three are more than worth it.

In the end, Bullet Train is another stupid summer blockbuster for better or worse.

still courtesy of Sony Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.