Mini Film Review – Bullet Train

I have just seen Bullet Train; and I rather liked it! Directed by David Leitch, Brad Pitt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Brian Tyree Henry, and based on the book Maria Beetle by Kōtarō Isaka; Bullet Train is an action comedy, about a group of Assassins, who whilst working all seemingly different jobs, all begin to converge on one another! It was an interesting experience on the whole. The film is technically a comedy; but quite a lot of the comedy falls flat. They are structured either in a clever, or awkward way; but 1: Do not give you much of a chance to giggle at them, and 2: Are just not that funny! Where it does create actual giggles, is in the realm of pure surprises. The plot limps on, and it does sort of wrap it all up at the end, but does it in a rather confusing and nonsensical fashion; which just leaves you scratching your head. It is an interesting experience though, because where it fails, it pretty much makes up for in two areas. Firstly the action scenes; which carry two different styles. Close combat scenes are nicely detailed, and both create, as well as allow moments of laughter. Then there are the big action pieces, which are both adrenaline fueled, and pretty cleverly mixed together. But the thing that stands out most, is the surprising mix of major names, that like to turn up; sometimes waiting until the very end of the film to make their first appearance. Many of the core cast are pretty well designed and portrayed, which allows villains to become heroes, as well as create unsung heroes in bottles of water, and a Boomslang Snake. But, as the film reaches it’s climax; the flood of talent on show just pour out of the walls, and flood the scenes. From Hiroyuki Sanada, to Michael Shannon, and even Channing Tatum (plus others which I will leave for you to discover). It’s really hard to try and explain what this film is, other than interesting; as it has many flaws, but enough good stuff; to makes it shine! It looks like it’s trying to be like either Nobody, or Deadpool; but it isn’t. It’s more like an action packed version of Knives Out. And a pretty good one at that! Might even be worthy enough for a sequel!

I want a sequel!