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Is Brad Pitt's Hitman Comedy 'Bullet Train' Any Good? Here's What The Reviews Say
Based on the Japanese novel "Maria Beetle" by Kōtarō Isaka, director David Leitch's film "Bullet Train," starring Brad Pitt, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Zazie Beetz and more, is about an American hitman (Pitt) who wants to get away from the cutthroat life but gets pulled back in while traveling on a high-speed train between Tokyo and Kyoto.
Is the action-comedy film any good, or has Leitch produced an unmemorable two-hour train ride? Here's what the reviews say.
It's More Nonsensical Than Substantial
“Bullet Train” is not a good film, but Pitt is having a truly palpable amount of fun in it, and the energy that radiates off of him as he fights Bad Bunny over an explosive briefcase or styles his hair with the blow dryer function of a Japanese toilet is somehow magnetic enough to convince us that we’re having fun, too. Even though we usually aren’t.
Even though this over-cranked story of strangers on a Shinkansen — a late summer write-off that feels like what might happen if someone typed “Guy Ritchie anime” into DALL-E 2 — tries so hard to mimic Pitt’s natural appeal that you can feel the movie begging for our bemusement with every frenetic cut-away and gratuitous flashback. Even though David Leitch’s cotton-candy-and-flop-sweat adaptation of Kōtarō Isaka’s “MariaBeetle” is the kind of Hollywood action movie so mindless and star-driven that it’s almost impossible to imagine how it started as a book.
It Deviates From The Source With Permission
Unlike the book, in which all the assassins who find themselves at cross-purposes on the Tokyo-to-Kyoto bullet train are Japanese, most of the principal characters have had an international makeover, raising online objections to whitewashing.
Core members of the creative team, including the novelist, have defended the casting choices, maintaining that realism is not a big factor in the setting or characters. But it’s perhaps significant that only when the dependably compelling Hiroyuki Sanada steps up to play a key part in the climactic action does anyone onscreen acquire a semblance of depth.
[THR]
Aaron Taylor-Johnson And Brian Tyree Henry Need A Buddy Movie
Though Pitt is the ostensible lead, it's Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry who find a fine balance between being smug and being a lot of fun. Their brotherly connection — joked about due to the fact that one of them is white and the other is Black — as well as one of the characters being obsessed with a children's TV show heavily at odds with this film's R-rated content could easily make the duo insufferable, but their plight as well as the genuine commitment both actors bring to roles that could easily be laughed off makes their performances stand out. Tangerine and Lemon start out feeling like also-rans from an early-2000s mob movie, but end up basically stealing this.
[/Film]
The Action Is Exciting
The fight scenes feel relatively original, which is impressive unto itself, considering how many other creative filmmakers there are trying to distinguish themselves in the genre. Leitch tends to approach these standoffs the way Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire once did their dance numbers: The violence needn’t be taken literally (which is tough at times, considering how brutal the bloodshed can be), but rather appreciated mostly for their choreography and capacity to surprise.
[Variety]
The 'Bullet Train' Cinematic Universe Should Be A Thing
The entire supporting cast is terrific, with Brian Tyree Henry and Aaron Taylor-Johnson particularly outstanding as Lemon and Tangerine, who are constantly bickering and are capable of enormous bursts of violence, and yet have a genuinely sweet, brotherly affection for one another. Like all the major characters, they get their own backstory—and every one of those flashbacks sheds light on the motivations of these characters. It’s really quite something to behold.
TL;DR
Overall, Bullet Train is a blast. Sure, the pacing fumbles for a bit, and some characters are certainly short-changed amid the storm of spectacle.
[Mashable]
Bullet Train doesn't have a destination, really, or a moral imperative other than mayhem. But it's got a ticket a ride.
[EW]
The laws of physics aren’t as important here as is the uptick of the body count – death doesn’t matter because nothing does. It’s all a laugh.
A talented cast and high-speed setting are wasted on a glib, bloody comedy of the post-Tarantino school.
[The Wrap]
Watch the official trailer below:
