Film review – Bullet Train

Brad Pitt and Brian Tyree Henry in Bullet Train (2022)

Director: David Leitch
Genre: Action, Comedy, Thriller
Certificate: 15
★★★★

What happens if Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill and Guy Ritchie’s Snatch had a baby, and then let the John Wick franchise raise it? The answer would be David Leitch’s most recent journey into slick, tongue-in-cheek violence, Bullet Train.

The John Wick co-director has been on a mission to reinvent action films in Hollywood for the past ten years or so. Leitch’s talent seems to be in taking the old and tired tropes, and breathing new life into them, rather than creating something entirely new. Which isn’t a bad thing, there’s more than one way to skin a cat after all.

The stylised action, the choreography and dialogue of Leitch’s films is what differentiates them from the litany of boring and overplayed action films that clog up our Netflix feeds.

Brad Pitt’s ‘Ladybug’ might be the chosen star of the show but the real standouts are his British, bloodthirsty rivals ‘Lemon’ (Brian Tyree Henry) and ‘Tangerine’ (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).

The Guy Ritchie influence shines bright throughout the films dialogue, quick, dark, and witty, although at times a little bit overly pleased with itself. You’ll regularly find yourself chuckling audibly at the quick remarks being thrown between characters, once again particularly between Johnson, Henry and Pitt.

The fight scenes are impressively choreographed and full of style, using the train setting to its fullest and creatively playing around with the cramped setting. A violently silent clash between Pitt and Henry on the “quiet car” where they are consistently shushed stands out.

Despite the consistent fun and undeniable enjoyment of Bullet Train, there is a lack of depth in the overall plot, moving rapidly from fight scene to fight scene without stopping long enough to establish much else.

Bullet Train might not be as profound as some had hoped, but what it does well, it does really well. Cementing itself as one of the most enjoyable and fun action movies of 2022. Buy the ticket, take the ride and you’ll feel satisfied by the time you reach the final destination.

Bullet Train is available to see at The Mareel from 23rd-28th of August