Bullet Train

★★★1/2

Mild spoilers

Brad Pitt plays a former assassin who has a simple snatch-and-grab job on a bullet train in Tokyo, but unbeknownst to him the briefcase he is supposed to retrieve is also being pursued by other assassins and mysterious figures, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Hiroyuki Sanada, Andrew Koji, Joey King and a snake*. Some actors have been left unmentioned to preserve the element of surprise for you.

The Empire Spoiler Special Podcast beat me to it by saying that the movie resembles the Joe Carnahan flick, Smokin’ Aces, where it also boasts a large ensemble featuring a cast of familiar and new faces playing killers from different factions in pursuit of a common target. It was the first thing that popped into my head once I realized what Bullet Train was going for.

Director David Leitch, known for being the co-director of John Wick 1, and the director of Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, and Hobbs & Shaw, brings the stunt team from Nobody to work on the action in this film, which I believe are the same guys who worked on the John Wick films also? I could be wrong, couldn’t find that information on Google for some reason. Anyway, being one-half of the directing team responsible for John Wick, I was always looking forward to his solo efforts, but thought they were well-made films that were a little uneven in the the story and acting department. I think Bullet Train is his best solo effort where the story and performances are finally part of the highlights. Taylor-Johnson and Henry are the standouts here, and gets to play with some fun Tarantino-esque banter. Hiroyuki Sanada is as regal as ever, but I wished he had been allowed some humour to dabble with, as he seemed to be given the same dour role in every major movie he has been involved in. Brad Pitt plays a vanilla lead that underuses his talents, and almost felt like a supporting actor in his own movie. Like Smokin’ Aces, the story is playful but violent, and darkly comedic.

I wished it had a stronger central villain because that would have made it a four-starrer for me, easily. The film hyped up the Keyser Soze-like bad guy a lot, but couldn’t satisfactorily deliver on that expectation when he finally appeared. Also, Bullet Train doesn’t truly have an ensemble cast, but more of a string of fleeting cameos, with really only four central characters taking up most of the screen time. There are at least two characters in the film that are guaranteed to make you go “that’s all??”

Don’t get me wrong, this is still an enjoyable watch albeit one I’m not rushing to revisit soon, and is Leitch’s best if you were a little disappointed by his past outings.

*Yes, there’s a subtle Snakes on a Plane reference in the movie by the filmmakers. But now it’s a train, geddit? Snakes on a train? LOL, snort!