Review: Bullet Train is a flare with a stellar lineup that’s close to great

David Leitch’s new film expands on Deadpool’s comic style, but lacks the warm action and sluggish pace.

For those who love action David Leitch someone with a really impressive career. Before becoming a film director, he was a choreography coordinator and stuntman with a good curriculum starting from blade as well as Matrix night angels and franchise Born.

So it’s fair to expect that there will be impressive action in his films, that he has already proven that he knows how to do it. deadpool 2, atomic as well as Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw. Too bad his most ambitious project, High-speed trainIt’s the lack of intensity that leaves much to be desired, an element that was missing to elevate the fun and crazy work to the level of perfection.

Data sheet

header: Bullet train (bullet train)

DirectionStory by: David Leitch

Road map: Zach Olkiewicz, based on the book by Kotaro Isaki

release date: August 4, 2022 (Brazil)

Country of origin: Japan, USA

Duration: 2h 6min

Synopsis: The world’s most unfortunate mercenary becomes embroiled in a giant conspiracy that involves all sorts of mobsters when he agrees to retrieve a suitcase of money from a bullet train crossing Japan.

A few good years in development High-speed train adapts the book of the same name Kotaro Isakawho follows a superstitious mercenary (lived Brad Pitt) who takes on the simple mission of retrieving a suitcase of money from a bullet train crossing Japan. Notorious for his bad luck, he quickly becomes embroiled in a giant conspiracy involving all sorts of bad characters.

The big attraction of the film is, without a doubt, its absurdly talented cast full of big names. As the protagonist, known only by the codename Ladybug, Pitt displays his full strength in comedy, which has unfortunately been little explored throughout his career. It’s hard to imagine another person (maybe Ryan Reynolds?) who could shine in this role, which requires both physical prowess to kick ass and great comic timing to convey life philosophy, reflections on the nature of luck, and a clumsy attitude when exchanging blows with someone.

As Bullet Train proves, Brad Pitt’s great comedy deserves further study.

Other characters encountered along the path of the mercenary are just as charming and very well chosen. Hiroyuki Sanada (Mortal Kombat) as well as Andrew Koji (warrior) balance humor with more sober notions of father and son on different journeys of revenge. Already Brian Tyree Henry (atlanta) as well as Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Avengers: Age of Ultron) are gaining attention as the duo Lemon and Tangerine, talented delinquent brothers who live by exchanging barbs with each other. Joey King (kissing tent), in turn, manages to win her place as the young psychopath responsible for most of the misfortunes that occur on the train, with a biting humor unshakable by her own cruelty.

The cast and humor are the work’s greatest triumphs and ultimately move the plot forward. There is always a joke, joke or slapstick scene that will leave you with a smile on your face and it’s really amazing how many great actors have come together in one project. There is a set of cameos that only convey the belief that David Leitch must be a very good guy since so many big names in Hollywood have coordinated their schedules just to show their faces for a few seconds at the end.

In addition to the strong main cast, the cameos are equally great and amazing.

Just like there’s a lot of praise in High-speed train, like his neon aesthetic and his boldness in embracing the absurd, it’s hard not to feel the rhythm overwhelmed by the excess of everything. Here it is clear that Leitch turned out to be a director in deadpool 2, and he’s trying to expand his directing style from comedy to action. The problem is that the action side is in debt, and this throws the whole balance out of balance.

Despite all the amusing absurdities the characters get into, the beating or gunfight scenes are well contained, safe and spaced out. Because of this, humor takes over the task of driving the film, leading to several dead end moments in which the joke just doesn’t work anymore, but the script and editing insist on continuing it.

The film, which is just over two hours long, ends up feeling drawn out due to its lack of dynamism, with oversized pockets that sound like a comedian from get up trying to get some reaction from the audience instead of moving on to the next parody. And the term “skirt” accurately describes the set High-speed trainwho sees in each character an opportunity to present funny situations from his past into memories. When there are so many of these characters, it’s good to leave some things to the imagination.

With a little more dynamic tempo and better action Trem-Bala could have been great.

It’s still nice to see this sequence of seemingly random events coming together in general chaos, but it often feels like the plot is expanding in unnecessary directions just to try to be funny, which is often to no avail. The idea is fun at first, and the goal is for everything to come together eventually, but this approach quickly gets boring and helps create a sense of overall film fatigue.

Even though it’s a long and tedious film for an action comedy, High-speed train very enjoyable and deserves credit for his absurd journey, strong cast with good performances and for his humor – when the jokes work, of course.

David Leitch spares no effort (or public money) and strives to create an even crazier version of an idea that could come up The Coen Brothers or from Quentin Tarantino. He almost hit the mark, but it’s still nice to see him try.

Bullet Train gets 3.5 out of 5 stars.

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