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movie review - Bullet Train

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

This action-comedy is so much over-the-top fun that I watched it a second time with my kids within days of my first, solo viewing. It's set here in Japan, upon a bullet train. It features a semi-retired assassin (played by a now-sixty-year-old Brad Pitt) who fills in for a missing colleague and winds up with a two hour hell ride from Tokyo to Osaka as thanks. He's put through endless confrontations with a cast of cartoonish villains, rival assassins, and vengeful Mexicans in sequence of note-perfect scenes that propel the story along as fast as the titular vehicle. There's a venomous snake on the loose, an obnoxious mascot, and a strangely fatalistic crew that will look the other way at just about anything. There's a dash of Japan stuff thrown in because of course, and plenty of kinetic insanity as the train begins to fall apart from the constant abuse.

Strongly recommended.