REVIEW: Brad Pitt Shines in What Is a Chaotic Journey in Bullet Train

Based on the Japanese graphic novel, Maria Beetle by Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train finds assassin Ladybug (Brad Pitt) trying to complete a snatch and grab on the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto. With his handler, Maria (Sandra Bullock), guiding him via phone, Ladybug must find his way off the train with the item in hand. However, this is easier said than done when Ladybug finds himself on the train with not one, but four other assassins, who all have their own missions to complete. Now, Ladybug must survive the trip if he intends to complete his own mission and make it off the train alive.

The first thing to note about this movie is that overall, the story is actually pretty interesting. But it has a few faults that may or may not affect your opinion of the movie. The first fault is the movie is extremely gory. Each fight scene is filled with an overabundance of spurting blood and extravagant kill sequences that might leave a bad taste in some viewers’ mouth. I get that the graphic novel was a little more on the gory side, but there are some things that are better left on the page. The second thing was the music. Composer Dominic Lewis and Director David Leitch attempted to use the music to help elevate their action scenes, much like director Quentin Tarantino, but it didn’t always pan out. There were too many times where the music overpowered the scene and distracted from what was on screen. Lastly, I couldn’t get over the fact that Leitch and his team did not cast an entirely Japanese, or even Asian American cast for the movie. The movie was set in Japan, featured Japanese translations, and was based on Japanese characters, but for some reason they opted to go with a predominantly white cast. Don’t get me wrong, most of the cast was a joy to watch on screen, but it just didn’t make sense to me.

Brad Pitt leads the cast as Ladybug, and this is his movie. No one comes close to his performance. No matter the scene he was in, your eyes were always on Pitt. It also helped that he had fantastic chemistry with every character he worked with. This was especially seen when he worked alongside Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Tangerine), Hiroyuki Sanada (The Elder), and Sandra Bullock (Maria Beetle). Fans will be campaigning to see Pitt and Bullock in a movie together after seeing the two in this one.

Sanada come in second when it comes to performance. He brought his A game, like always, and was fun to watch battle it out with the other characters. I just wish they had given his character more to do because I felt he was underutilized in the story.

Brian Tyree Henry and Taylor-Johnson played partners-in-crime Lemon and Tangerine and, besides Pitt, were used to bring a little comedic relief to the movie. My only problem was you couldn’t always make out Henry’s British accent. Though, I also spent a majority the movie questioning why he and Joey King’s character, The Prince had British accents at all. King does an okay job, but there is nothing memorable about her performance or her character.

Bad Bunny (The Wolf), Michael Shannon (The White Death), Logan Lerman (The Son), and Andrew Koji (Yuichi Kimura) round out the cast and played minor roles in the movie. However, Shannon and Koji’s characters played major roles in the story, but didn’t make any lasting impacts, which is a shame because Koji is a trained martial artist. Why Leitch and his team didn’t capitalize on this is beyond me.

Bullet Train comes in fast but doesn’t have the trajectory to stay on course. If it weren’t for Pitt’s performance, the movie would be an extreme let down. I highly recommend staying away from seeing this one in theaters and either reading the graphic novel or waiting until it is released to streaming.

Grade: C+