Movie Review: Bullet Train

Bullet Train is action packed, filled with fights and is as fast moving as the train.

The movie Bullet Train was released on August 5, 2022.  It is an action movie about assassins that are on a train that want to steal a briefcase full of money.  The movie runs for a total of 2 hours and 6 minutes.

The movie takes place on a bullet train in Japan, where Brad Pitt and many others in the film are assassins.  Brad Pitt is a famous actor best known for starring in movies like Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Fight Club.

The movie features Pitt, playing Ladybug,  and many other big names like Sandra Bullock, Michael Shannon and Ryan Reynolds, who are all mostly contracted killers that are all connected to each other.

It begins with Pitt arriving at the train station where he is talking on the phone with his employer Maria Beetle, played by Sandra Bullock.

His mission? Steal a money filled briefcase on the train. 

Once he gets on the train we get introduced to Lemon and Tangerine, who are also assassins that are the ones that have the briefcase.

Ladybug and Lemon both then recognize each other from a previous job they did where Lemon shot Ladybug.  Once they realize this they get into a fight already.

Ladybug knocks him out, going to get the briefcase.  I found when watching this movie there is a lot of unnecessary violence that could’ve been left out.

Right after the first fight scene, we are thrown into yet another where Ladybug fights The Wolf, someone that Ladybug knows from a job he did a few years back.

Minutes later, another person from the past appears on the train, known as the Hornet.  If you’re keeping track, that’s already 3 fights just minutes into the movie.

Keeping the trend going, another battle ensues, Ladybug continuing his insane luck streak.  After missing a fatal blow with a knife, and avoiding a poison filled death through an antiserum, you’d think his luck ran out. 

Although it seemed Ladybug was getting his way so far, he can’t seem to get off of this train no matter what he does.  Whenever he attempts to step off, he misses the stop or gets into a fight.

Nearing the end of this movie we get introduced to The Elder who is wanting revenge against The White Death.  The White Death is the person who killed his wife many years ago.

As The Elder, Ladybug and Lemon are on the train waiting for the final stop, they devise a plan to defeat The White Death.  The final stop of Kyoto has finally come and The White Death along with his men are waiting for them. 

The bomb goes off and the fighting begins.  While the fighting is going on they get back on the train and it starts to depart.

Although it seems this way, the train can’t ride forever.  It finds a dead end and begins to go off the rails into a town.  

The final moments in the movie are absolute chaos.  There’s a train crash, explosions and multiple fights.  It was hard to concentrate while watching this because of how much action there is.

I like how fast the movie is because we get introduced to a lot of characters in a short amount of time, and there is a lot of action very quickly.  We also learn a lot of information quickly from flashbacks, like how Ladybug knows The Wolf and Hornet.

Another thing that I liked about this movie is how aesthetically pleasing it is.  There is a lot of color in the surroundings of the characters like screens and lights.  Japan is quite known to have a very futuristic feel to it that adds to the look of the movie.

Ladybug, Lemon, Tangerine, Hornet and The Wolf intrigued me with their names, almost making it feel like I’m reviewing a kids show with an abundance of battles.

In terms of stats, Bullet train has a rotten tomato score of 76% from the audience and 54% from critics, making around $70 million domestically and $150 million worldwide.

As for funds, the budget for Bullet Train was $90 million,  unlike movies like Top Gun Maverick, with $170 million.  Which is another new movie that came out this year.

For the whole movie everything pretty much took place on the train, keeping everybody close together.  This made a lot for the constant action, leaving no one anywhere to run.

I would rate this movie a solid B+, I felt that the plot of the movie was good and the pacing of it was quick but it was dragged out a little.  

I think if it could have been shortened just a little bit, I would’ve rated it higher.