A film I think a lot of people were looking forward to is hitting theaters. Starring the awesome Brad Pitt as the lethal Ladybug. An assassin that has the worst luck ever. And his latest assignment, which he’s just filling in for, has him surrounded by others who in some way are connected and all stuck on the Bullet Train.
For me, I felt the film had a slow takeoff. Although it tried making up for it with some laughs, I kept waiting for bigger and better things to happen. Also not long into it, I really started getting Quinton Tarantino, Kill Bill / Pulp Fiction, vibes. A lot of straight-faced, corky conversations mixed with over-exaggerated violence. Which I thought was enjoyable. But no one does it as well as QT.
We also had a cool supporting cast, that included some really fun cameos. I really liked “The Twins”, Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry) & Tangerine (Aaron Taylor Johnson). They would be the Vincent & Jules (Travolta & Jackson) from Pulp Fiction in this one. I liked them. The other cast member I liked, but not because of a great performance, just because I don’t usually get to see him with such a prominent role, would be Hiroyuki Sanada. He usually has smaller roles with very little dialog, but in Bullet Train he’s more important to the story and with a lot more to say.
The big downside to this film was how poorly used some of the talents in this film is used. Their onscreen time was just a matter of minutes and only served as a way to connect the characters in the backstories.
Still, Bullet Train was a pretty good movie. Not one I’d rush out to see again on my own. But if I was asked to go watch it with someone, I’d be like… ok.