Bullet Train Review : Brad Pitt's Action Comedy Drama Is Illogically Funny & Humorous

Brad Pitt stars in the out-and-out action comedy of David Leitch, Bullet Train which is made for only one purpose: entertainment! No matter how it comes. David Leitch has previously directed films like Atomic Blonde (2016), Deadpool 2 (2018), Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) and he produced Nobody (2021). So we know that he's a good filmmaker, right? Then what's wrong with him that he had to make a film like Bullet Train? Something is definitely wrong. Something terrible and big or maybe he just wanted to see the lower side of his skills and therefore decided to uncover them with this action comedy. Bullet Train has no logic, nothing at all, yet all it tries to do is entertain you.The film is about a trained killer, Ladybug (Brad Pitt), who wants to give up life but is pulled back in by his handler, Maria Beetle (Sandra Bullock), in order to collect a briefcase full of money and gold on a bullet train heading from Tokyo to Kyoto. Well, the operation seems easy, but there's a catch to it – as always. Onboard the train, he and other competing assassins, The Prince (Joey King), Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry), Yuichi (Andrew Koji), Yuichi's Father (Hiroyuki Sanada), The Wolf (Benito A Martínez Ocasio), and Hornet (Zazie Beetz), discover their objectives are all connected with the White Death (Michael Shannon). During the killing spree, friends are lost and gained, secrets are revealed, vengeance is exacted, and so on.It all happens with a kick of dark humour, illogical scenes and black comedy.Bullet Train's narrative collapses entirely due to highly illogical conflicts in the screenplay. I agree they are funny, but we are not watching a British crime comedy of the 90s or any Abbott & Costello film from the 40s to enjoy those segments now. This crime comedy genre is difficult, especially when there's a lot of violence involved. You have to understand the impact of the outcome and how people are gonna react to it. A dead man can't just suddenly wake up. At least that's what he was shown a moment ago. He was hit with a couple of bullets, yet he awakens. A man can jump and climb on a running bullet train and carry it for the next five minutes. It's just that luck factor, which has been used again and again, and don't tell me luck happens to everybody at the same time, same place, and multiple times. Nobody is going to believe that, even in the last phase of cinematic liberty. It makes you laugh, yes, but from another angle. That's a silly one, I guess.The performances by the actors were quite decent considering the kind of peculiar characters they were playing. On some occasions, it seems they are over-acting, but maybe that was the demand of the script. Brad Pitt shines in the action and comedy scenes, but the scope isn't fulfilled. Joey King plays a bad-ass girl with an innocent face, which is too unrealistic to believe. Lemon and Tangerine, aka Brian Tyree Henry and Aaron Taylor-Johnson's black and white combination, is crispy. In the supporting roles, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Benito A Martínez Ocasio and Zazie Beetz are okay, while Sandra Bullock's cameo is passable.The technical aspects of Bullet Train are satisfactory. The background score and cinematography work most of the time. The best part is the editing, because the film never bores you nor gives you any nappy moments, despite the horrible writing. This two-hour plus ride runs like a Bullet Train, and the crew member called "editor" deserves a special mention for that. David Leitch repeats a few cliches and sparks from his own previous films, only to make you feel that you are watching an David Leitch film. Most of the time, you pass the scene with a silly laugh, but there's a laugh, and that's all that matters. It is just about making sense where Bullet Train slips out of the track. If there is a limit to insensible and unreasonable patterns, believe me, Bullet Train is completely unaware of that. However, a spoonful of entertainment is there, if not a plateful of blockbuster watch.