Sunday, 29 January 2023

VOD: Bullet Train (dir: David Leitch, 2022)

"Nut up or shut up, bruv!"

Welcome to Japan for a ride on this unashamed Tarantino/The Raid/John Wick-styled action potboiler, with Brad Pitt as a returning-to-action gun-for-hire on a job to retrieve a briefcase on a bullet train that happens to contain an eclectic mix of wacky characters, including a selection of hitmen-and-women on their own missions, all tied together by the briefcase and crime boss The White Death.  The high concept runs out of steam around the hour mark, but the film has an entertaining self-aware sense of devil-may-care frivolity along with an attractive glossy neon-lit sheen.  The physically-contained but freewheeling violence is slickly choreographed and marries copious blood with humour quite well, all leading to a hugely-ambitious CG-fuelled finale.  The big plus here is a Zen-like Brad Pitt clearly having a whale of a time, but ultimately Bullet Train is throwaway lightweight entertainment for fans of mindless action violence.

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