Bullet Train premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre on August 1. And yes, the film’s reviews are out now! Most early reactions have declared the movie a fun ride filled with smooth and creative action sequences. Also, Brad Pitt and the rest of the cast have received praise. Although, we cannot ignore its derivative tone. The latest David Leitch borrows way too heavily from numerous Hollywood action blockbusters.
The majority of the critics have hailed the character of Ladybug (Pitt), a highly trained but unlucky assassin. His handler, Maria Beetle (Sandra Bullock), gives him a task to collect a briefcase from the titular bullet train. What makes his character intriguing is that he takes the help of therapy to conquer violence. The helmer has utilised his cast brilliantly. Almost every performer in the film has a pretty cool action sequence.
The Brad Pitt starrer has a 75% “fresh” rating (based on 28 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes.
Carson Timar from Filmotomy tweeted, “Yea I loved BULLET TRAIN! Absolute non-stop fun with a wickedly smart script that gives everything a payoff; this is a wild ride with camp, blood, and plenty of slick editing! Some iffy morals here and there and the ending drags, but overall highly recommend! #BulletTrain.”
SharkFire’s Matt Rodriguez said, “I had a whole lot of fun with BULLET TRAIN. It builds this lavish playground and populates it with interesting and dangerous characters and then lets them all loose to see what happens.”
JOE’s Entertainment Editor, Rory Cashin, called the film a Tarantino-styled 90s action comedy project. On the other hand, Collider has hailed the movie as “big, absurd, and a lot of fun”.
However, not every review has been positive for the movie. Screen Daily in its review said: “For all its manic forward propulsion, the story really doesn’t go anywhere.”
According to Variety: “Brad Pitt’s #BulletTrain is essentially a live-action cartoon, trying its darnedest to channel the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie. It’s a gleeful high-speed battle royale.”
Bullet Train is David Leitch’s fourth directional venture after Atomic Blonde (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019). It consists of an ensemble cast of Brad Pitt, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Sandra Bullock, and many more. The film will hit the theatres worldwide on August 5. It will release in India a day before its global release. Stay tuned for more updates.