Bullet Train - Review Thread

It's easy to look at Bullet Train and draw numerous comparisons to Guy Ritchie's work, and that's fair, but let's just say that this film is a successful homage to that style and leave the comparisons at that, shall we? Because the fact of the matter is that this movie is so energetic, fast, funny and just plain fun in its own right, that it deserves credit for that alone and not to be weighed down by endless comparisons. Director David Leitch has doubled down on giving us more stylized action romps in his days since the first John Wick (Hobbs & Shaw excluded), and Bullet Train represents him at his most successfully stylized yet. From Minute One, this movie is a relentless bullet train itself of character title cards, backstories, personalities and fight scenes that does owe a lot to similar 90's-era crime actioners of its ilk, but it's being made by people who have a clear understanding of what made those movies work. Yes, the fight scenes and choreography are highly energetic and entertaining, but it's really the characters, their personalities, conflicts and dynamics with each other that make this movie work. Brad Pitt's main character, especially, brings a lot in that regard. The fact that he's a more eccentric and conflicted figure not only adds to the film's overall tone, but also is something refreshing in and of itself, rather than having him potentially be the straight and stoic man amidst all this chaos. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry are also standouts as The Twins, as well as being the most "Ritchie-esque" characters in the whole movie. Again, it's just as much fun seeing these characters talk to each other as it is seeing them trying to kill one another. The movie, I feel, does go a little too over the top with its climax and even though the story itself is constantly entertaining, it does seem stretched thin just a little as it goes on. But overall, Bullet Train is just a wild good time and a nice way to cap off the summer.