Review by terrellrobinson71

Luck. Fate. Karma. Destiny. That's all in the wildly creative center of "Bullet Train". It's also a movie about betrayal, corruption, misunderstandings, power and revenge. For an action movie laced with dark humor that involves a large group of immoral characters dealing with those morals that we hold so dear in our hearts, that seems like high praise. And it does. Here is a movie that is so rambunctious and off-the-rails (if you'll pardon the pun), it actually takes its sweet time of getting to know these characters while putting them in the middle of all the chaotic madness. And then, just when you think you have it all figured out, it doubles down on itself and surprises you with as many cards revealed to us in unexpected ways. Plus, the brutally violent action sequences that involves all the characters are ingeniously inventive. In the middle of all of this is Ladybug, as played by the always phenomenal Brad Pitt, an assassin who always believes he has incredibly bad luck but ironically survives. After a extended bout of "keeping calm and carry on", he's called back to work by his handler Maria (the voice of Sandra Bullock) to pull off one big (but very simple) assignment: Aboard Japan's bullet train, steal a briefcase and get out. But everytime Ladybug tries to get off, he unfortunately keeps getting up in the business of other assassins. There's "The Twins", Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry) carrying alongside "The Son" (Logan Lerman), who is the son (duh!) of mysterious figure known as "The White Death". Then there's The Prince (Joey King), who may act and look like an innocent schoolgirl, but she is a manipulative and heartless figure that is the causer for almost all of the events in the story. Next, there's Yuichi Kimura (Andrew Koji), who is seeking revenge on the one who put his son in a coma. And lastly, the Wolf (Puerto Rican pop star Benito A Martínez Ocasio aka Bad Bunny), who wants revenge on Ladybug for a very personal reason. Who will survive? Who will fail? Who will leave the train with the suitcase? And who will avoid a meeting with "The White Death" when the train makes its final destinaion? "Bullet Train", directed by the remarkably badass Dacid Leitch of "Atomic Blonde", "Deadpool 2" and "Hobbs & Shaw", is a lot of fun; a movie that is so ruthlessly over-the-top and insanely hilarious, it manages to exceed every expectation you hoped for (it did for me). The faithful screenplay by Zak Olkewicz, based on the brilliant novel (originally titled "MariaBeetle") by Kotaro Isaka that I had the great pleasure to read last summer, is clever and incisive by managing to balance hilarious character-driven comedy by way of Guy Richie, Quentin Tarantino and The Coen Brothers with bloody high-stakes acrion that we anticipate from this genre. It's also strangely philosophical as Ladybug and other characters try to reason with one another while spilling out their ways of dealing with life and fate. (Trust me, It's all part of the story, too.) It also has some surprising cameos from actors you've never expect to see in a film of this caliber. And this cast is just perfect from top to bottom., especially Mr. Pitt whose star-power charisma hasn't had this much fun since either his extended cameo in "The Lost City" or his Oscar-winnnng performance in "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood". In fact, everybody is having fun here, even the snake, a water bottle and a popular figure known as Momomon. With "Top Gun: Maverick" leading the charge as my favorite movie of the summer, "Bullet Train" is one of the summer movies I was waiting for, and now it's one of the best movies I've seen all summer long.