Movie Review: 'Bullet Train' is Among the Best of 2022 at the Movies

Bullet Train (2022)

Directed by David Leitch

Written by Zac Olkewicz

Starring Brad Pitt, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Bryan Tyree Henry, Joey King, Sandra Bullock, Bad Bunny, Zazie Beetz.

Release Date August 5th, 2022

Bullet Train gives us a whole new side of Brad Pitt, a mature, comic, borderline neurotic, voice that somehow fits with his uncommon movie star good looks. Where Pitt has spent years trading on cool, Bullet Train finds the actor giving himself to a fully comic performance in a way that is completely un-self-conscious. Brad Pitt is still a movie star but his performance in Bullet Train is not a movie star performance in the traditional sense. And it's certainly not a typically Brad Pitt performance.

Bullet Train stars Brad Pitt as a criminal given the code-name Ladybug by his unseen handler, voiced by Sandra Bullock. Ladybug is headed back into the criminal world for the first time since a nervous breakdown took him to a therapist's couch and time away from death that has haunted so much of his life, especially recently. As related in a terrific sequence that opens Bullet Train, we learn that Ladybug is paranoid about his luck. He stopped killing people a while ago and yet, his bad luck finds him repeatedly in proximity of death.

This quickly paced sequence with one terrific flashback gag, sets a tone and pace that Bullet Train keeps throughout its run time. It’s a combination of quick movement, flashy colors, deft editing and a dark comic absurdity that is wildly entertaining and hilarious. Bullet Train was directed by David Leitch, one of the writers of John Wick and the co-writer director of Deadpool 2. Like that brilliantly violent sequel, Bullet Train is a roiling, ragingly violent movie that makes brilliant use of absurdity to underline and undermine the violence.

While absurdity, violence, and an entertaining form of chaos are the defining and entertaining features of Bullet Train, there is also this stellar cast to highlight. While Pitt is outstanding in one of the best performances of his career, he’s aided spectacularly by not only Sandra Bullock as Maria, but also Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Bryan Tyree Henry as ‘twin’ brother assassins, code-named Lemon and Tangerine. Rapper Bad Bunny delivers a terrific performance in a relative cameo as a character named The Wolf. Bad Bunny and Brad Pitt have a wonderfully comic and unpredictable fight scene that is a great highlight in a movie full of highlights.

Looming large over the proceedings of Bullet Train is a God-like figure of evil known as White Death and played to perfection by Michael Shannon. The plot of Bullet Train is pushed forward toward a final boss confrontation with White Death that grows ever more huge and exciting as characters build up the legend of White Death in terrific dialogue sequences. Meanwhile, hiding in the shadows of the plot is The Prince (Joey King), who appears to be pulling more strings than anyone in a plot full of strings to be pulled. King may be known for the fluffy nonsense of The Kissing Booth movies on Netflix but Bullet Train gives her a terrific showcase and she proves more than capable of hanging with the ringers in the cast of Bullet Train.

I haven’t even mentioned the brilliant work of Zazie Beetz as another legendary killer, known as The Hornet. She’s brilliant and her fight scene with Brad Pitt is easily the equal of Bad Bunny’s clash with the star. And then there is an unrecognizable Logan Lerman as the late son of White Death whose retrieval by Lemon and Tangerine spurs the plot like a human MacGuffin. Lerman spends most of his time playing Weekend at Bernies but he’s still tremendous in the role.

There are several other wildly clever parts in motion in Bullet Train, including Thomas the Tank Engine, yes really, and a snake, but I will leave you to discover those. I haven’t actually spoiled anything in the movie. That’s how wild and unpredictable the film is on top of being very funny and extraordinarily violent. For the action crowd, Bullet Train is a must see for big action, big laughs and a surprising amount of blood and guts that somehow doesn’t take away from any of the fun in the movie.

Bullet Train is in theaters now. You can find my archive of more than 20 years and nearly 2000 movie reviews at SeanattheMovies.blogspot.com. Follow me on Twitter at PodcastSean and follow the archive blog at SeanattheMovies. You can also hear me talking about new movies on the Everyone’s a Critic Movie Review Podcast available on your favorite podcasting apps.