The dark comedy is laugh-out-loud funny, the action sequences are brilliantly choreographed, and the amazing cast are universally great – this high concept action-comedy is an absolute blast.

Premise: The first job back for mercenary “Ladybug” (Brad Pitt) after an existential crisis was meant to be a simple ‘snatch and grab’ job on a high speed bullet train from Tokyo – but he didn’t count on rival assassins “Tangerine” (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and “Lemon” (Brian Tyree Henry), the mysterious criminal mastermind “The Prince” (Joey King), and half of Japan’s underworld also being on the train.

Review:

Stuntman-turned-director David Leitch may have only directed five feature films, but he’s yet to make a film that didn’t exceed my expectations. After having co-directed the original John Wick film in 2014, he then made the twisty, paranoid spy action thriller Atomic Blonde in 2017, the irreverent comic-book sequel Deadpool 2 in 2018, the tongue-in-cheek action-comedy Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw in 2019, and now Bullet Train.

While each of these five films have their own individual tones, they unquestionably share some common DNA. Firstly, as a stuntman-turned-director, it’s perhaps unsurprising that David Leitch really knows how to choreograph and shoot great – and inventive – action sequences. Bullet Train continues his run in this regard, and although the focus is actually more on the humour and the tension than on staging flashy mind-blowing action sequences (like the 7-minute one-shot fight scene in Atomic Blonde), when the story does explode into moments of violence, he always finds creative ways of using the characters and environments available to him.

“…the dark humour is balanced perfectly alongside the tension of the thriller aspects…”

The second common element in all of David Leitch’s films is his dark sense of humour. With the exception of Atomic Blonde (which was fairly po-faced), his other action films have all had their tongue firmly in their cheek to at least some degree. But if Atomic Blonde lies at one end of his comedy spectrum, Bullet Train lies at the opposite end – this is a comedy/action/thriller where you’re probably going to spend more time laughing at the humour than you are wincing at the action.

But that’s not to say that this is an out-and-out comedy either, because as funny as the dark humour is, it’s always balanced perfectly alongside the tension of the thriller aspects. What has brought all of the various assassins, mercenaries and underworld figures onto the same train? How will their competing objectives and interests be resolved? Who will make it all the way to the train’s final stop in Kyoto?

“…Aaron Taylor-Johnson & Brian Tyree Henry are the comedic highlight of the film…”

Central to the film’s success is the amazing cast. Although the star, Brad Pitt has the least flashy role, as his character is (a) in the dark about what’s really going on for most of the film, and (b) the closest the film has to an “everyman” character. That said, he still gets a chance to exercise his comedy skills playing the world-weary mercenary whose therapist has recommended copying mechanisms and strategies that really aren’t compatible with his chosen line of work.

For me, though, the highlights of the film were Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry as “the twins”, currently going by the codenames “Tangerine” and “Lemon”. Their relationship is a comedic highlight of the film, but the actors also do a fantastic job of selling their emotional bond, even through all of the hyper-stylised, heightened reality of the film. And it might not work for everyone, but I thought the running gag about Lemon’s obsession with Thomas The Tank Engine was inspired.

“…the action, while inventively choreographed, is cartoonishly played for laughs…”

The other main cast member who deserves a special mention is Joey KIng as the enigmatic character known as “The Prince” (almost everyone in the film is referred to by an onscreen alias or pseudonym). King manages to make her character feel like a genuine threat, and quite possibly the most dangerous person on the train, which is no mean feat.

I don’t want to say too much about the rest of the cast, as some appearances were genuine surprises (for me, at least, although I think some appearances were given away in the marketing), and there are also some cameos that are clearly intended to be secret. But I can say that Andrew Koji deservedly gets perhaps his biggest role to date, playing the son of veteran cult actor Hiroyuki Sanada, while Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny also makes his big-screen debut.

“…a wild ride full of black humour, exhilarating action & eccentric characters…”

Ultimately, like with all comedies, if you can’t get onboard (pun intended) with its dark sense of humour, then you’re going to struggle. Equally, the action here, while inventively choreographed and shot, is cartoonishly played for laughs, rather than striving for the bone-crunching grittiness of Atomic Blonde, and that won’t be to everyone’s taste.

But I had so much fun watching this film, I can’t not give it five-stars. The whole audience were laughing-out-loud throughout the film at the various outlandish scenarios and situations, but equally, there were audible gasps and stunned silences at certain developments. This film isn’t trying to be a deep meditation on the nature of existence (despite Ladybug’s obsession with luck, fate and predestination) – it just wants to give audiences a wild ride full of black humour, exhilarating action sequences and eccentric characters, and it does that successfully for its full 2-hour runtime.