Why It Ranks
Bullet Train is the most fun action film of 2022. Pitt’s comedy chops elevate a clever ensemble piece, Leitch’s choreography uses the train setting brilliantly, and the interconnected assassin plot is a satisfying narrative puzzle.
The Film
Bullet Train is David Leitch’s most purely entertaining film: a neon-lit, hyperviolent comedy about five assassins who discover they are all on the same Japanese bullet train for interconnected reasons. Brad Pitt’s Ladybug — a pacifist hitman who just wants to complete one simple job — is a delightful comic creation, and the ensemble (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Joey King, Hiroyuki Sanada, and a scene-stealing Bad Bunny) gives every compartment its own energy. The confined train setting forces creative fight choreography — luggage racks, bathroom stalls, and the quiet car all become battlegrounds. It’s Guy Ritchie on rails, and the escalating coincidences are played for laughs as often as for thrills.
Fun Facts
Brad Pitt performed many of his own fight scenes, crediting the John Wick team’s choreography for making him look good.
Sandra Bullock’s cameo as Pitt’s handler was filmed in a single day as a favor to Pitt.
The bullet train interiors were built as a full-scale set on a soundstage, with exterior footage projected on screens outside the windows.
The Thomas the Tank Engine references throughout the film were in the original Japanese novel by Kōtarō Isaka.
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