Movie of the Week: “Bullet Train”: Brad Pitt and a train ride without Zane

The acrobat returned to the director’s chair. With the action comedy Bullet Train, 46-year-old filmmaker David Leach sought a project that would benefit his past experience in hand-to-hand combat. This time starring Brad Pitt, who was once represented by Leitch on several occasions. House of Joy plays a hitman with the codename Lady Bug. His supervisor, Maria Beetle (tel: Sandra Bullock) gave him the name of the lucky ladybug. On the other hand, the ladybug herself believes that she is not always lucky and continues to think out loud about her karma. His character and the conversations he has with Maria are the best comedic element in this hard-hitting action movie. After a long vacation and treatment, he is supposed to return to work with a simple task and take the place of a sick colleague.

confrontation

His mission: On the Shinkansen Express from Tokyo to Kyoto, pick up a bag and get off again. But the simple task soon turned out to be very difficult. Because apart from Ladybird, there are a number of other professional killers who have their own agenda on board. In addition, the Ladybird Wizard advised him to be less confrontational and be more calm – naturally difficult on a 200 mph train full of enemies!

Although this action-packed, action-packed play is outrageous, Leach and screenwriter Zach Olkowicz don’t care much about realism. The story is based on a Japanese novel by Kotaro Isaka. Despite some controversy surrounding the choice of characters (mostly males) with white Western stars, “Bullet Train” manages to live up to the Japanese level and side stories for Japanese characters. In the end, the scenario turned out to be more complex than expected, with borrowings from “Pulp Fiction” and “Kill Bill.”

The focus is on the dynamics of battles fought with fists and lots of words. Unlike the quiet, genre-defining “John Wick” films that Leitch produced, Brad Pitt doesn’t have much to do physically with this comedy. The density of new ideas and nonsense is high, even if not everything works out. But the overly made gags and exaggerated slapstick inserts couldn’t bother with a light, fast sound. An entertaining and entertaining train journey.