Yesterday was the first ever National Cinema Day!. Many movie theaters offered tickets for $3. Saaaay Whaaatt?! Needless to say, I was all over that! I suggested to my husband to do a triple feature with me. At first, he was skeptical because 3 movies in one day is a long haul at a theater. I would be happy with two movies, but he agreed to the three. I was super excited! We decided to see Bullet Train with Brad Pitt, the re-release of the original Jaws movie and Jurassic Park Dominion, which has been out for awhile and would leave the theater soon.
We started our day at Red Robin for lunch for a substantial bite to eat to get us through until our evening ended after midnight. First stop, Bullet Train. At the beginning, I questioned our choice. It started off a bit weird. About 30 minutes into it, I started to enjoy it.
The movie stars Brad Pitt as Ladybug. Costars include Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Tangerine, Bryan Tyree Henry as Lemon, Joey King as The Prince, Andrew Kochi as the father of the boy, Hiroyki Sanada as the grandfather of the boy, Michael Shannon as the White Death mob boss, Benito A. Martinez Ocasio as The Wolf and Zazie Beetz as The Hornet. Cameo appearances by Sandra Bullock, Ladybug’s handler, and Chatham Tatum as a train passenger, make the cast complex as these are the stars of The Lost City in which Brad Pitt makes a cameo appearance. That was fun!
The movie begins with a young boy on life support with a grieving father nearby. The boy’s grandfather enters the room and admonishes the father for not being where he needed to be when the incident occurred. The scene changes to an assassin played by Brad Pitt who is filling in for another assassin with the stomach flu. His mission is to board the Japanese bullet train and retrieve a briefcase of money. He is given the code name “Ladybug” by his handler. “Ladybug” happens to have an unlucky streak, which has caused him to semi-retire from the assassin business but agrees to do a job if it is easy. Several other assassins are on the train unbeknownst to Ladybug. Two of those assassins are known as twin brothers “Lemon” and “Tangerine.” Lemon and Tangerine are obviously not twins, but they are the same age and grew up together. They are escorting the son of a Russian mob boss and the briefcase back home. The mob boss is known as “The White Death.” another assassin, known as “the Prince” is also on the train. The Prince is a young woman who is yet to reveal her real identity. Ladybug finds the briefcase easily and prepares to debark the train at the next stop. Of course, that is easier said than done. As soon as he is about to get off the train, another assassin, known as “The Wolf” gets on the train. This is when the plot begins to get interesting. Ladybug and Wolf have a history, but The Wolf’s revenge ends in his own death.
The plot begins to show a complicated undertone. The Prince reveals that she is the one who pushed the little boy off a rooftop, resulting in his life support In order to lure the father onto the train to entrap the White Death. The rest of the plot is devoted to Ladybug trying to get off the train with or without the briefcase. What should be an easy task is not quite so easy. Chaos ensues until the very end; it all comes together and all is revealed.
The plot was derived from a novel by Kitaro Isaka with the screenplay by Zak Olkewicz. The filming wrapped in 2021. The release of the movie was another victim of Covid as it was delayed 4 times. Music came in the form of Japanese dubbed American originals of Stayin’ Alive and Holding Out for a Hero.
Overall, Bullet Train ended up as an entertaining film after a somewhat dubious beginning. This action-oriented movie was balanced by humor, making it more high-spirited than other action movies. I will give this movie a 4 out of five stars. It is definitely worth a night out.
See my review for the original Jaws movie here. See the review of the Jurassic World Dominion here.
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