Slick And Stylish But Tedious Brad Pitt Film

The
novel
‘Maria
Beetle’
by
Kotaro
Isaka
that
this
movie
is
based
on,
follows
several
hitmen
aboard
a
Tohoku
aka
Bullet
Train,
crashing
and
burning
against
each
other,
spilling
blood,
guts,
and
gore
along
the
way,
in
their
attempt
to
get
to
the
briefcase
loaded
with
cash
and
gold
biscuits.
David
Leitch’s
Brad
Pitt
starrer
follows
the
same
trajectory
in
super
earnest
but
the
sense
of
fun
is
not
all-enveloping.

Doesn’t
seem
like
the
makers
bargained
for
very
many
others
on
board
the
super-fast
train
so
it’s
basically
easy
season
for
the
adversarial
assassins.
They
take
their
time
carousing
through
the
compartments,
sharing
inanities
and
indulging
in
slick,
speedy
action
and
kills
but
the
coveted
briefcase
keeps
shifting
hands.

Ladybug
(Brad
Pitt)
a
returning-from-a-break
assassin,
without
a
weapon
other
than
his
dry
but
blunt
and
unseasoned
wit,
trying
to
reinvent
himself
after
a
tryst
with
peace,
has
the
onerous
task
of
engaging
with
a
train
load
full
of
killers.

His
mission
to
retrieve
the
sought-after
briefcase
is
fraught
with
a
minefield
of
difficulties
–
but
it’s
not
only
the
super-sharp
weaponry
or
killer
skills
he
has
to
worry
about.
Wading
through
depressed
lags
in
runtime
are
some
really
stupid
derailments
into
unpalatable
banter
that
keep
coming
in
between
action
stunts,
thus
butchering
the
momentum.

Leitch,
who
has
worked
with
Pitt
earlier
(also
as
his
stunt
double
in
films
like
Fight
Club,
Ocean’s
Eleven,
Troy,
and
Mr.
&
Mrs.
Smith)
appears
to
share
an
easy-going
camaraderie
with
the
Hollywood
Superstar
and
it
shows
up
on
the
screen.
Pitt’s
impressive
presence
and
easy
performance
allow
for
some
fluidity
in
a
narrative
based
on
a
screenplay
riddled
with
doubt
and
confusion.

This
film
was
initially
developed
by
Antoine
Fuqua
as
an
all-out
violent
action
thriller
but
a
proprietorial
change
of
hands
decided
on
a
light-hearted
action
comedy
style
that
doesn’t
appear
to
have
been
developed
well
enough
to
score
sustainable
wins
with
an
audience.

The
narrative
strategy
to
keep
throwing
deadly
obstacles
at
Ladybug,
who
appears
to
be
remarkably
good
at
improvising
his
way
out
of
trouble
–
doesn’t
seem
to
be
enough
to
keep
the
audience
in
their
seats.

The
mayhem
aboard
the
superfast
train
isn’t
logically
possible
and
the
visual
effects
aren’t
all
that
convincing
either,
even
though
it’s
all
gloss
and
glass.

There’s
a
surfeit
of
brutality
and
gore
on
display
here
but
despite
the
super-slick
veneer
and
pop-music
serenades
in
the
background,
there’s
very
little
take-home.
Save
for
brief
moments
of
levity,
much
of
the
comedy
falls
flat.

This
is
the
kind
of
Hollywood
action
movie
that’s
mindless,
a
cross-cultural
mishmash,
largely
formulaic
(Quentin
Tarantino
and
Guy
Ritchie’s
films
appear
to
be
an
inspiration),
and
even
the
stars
from
across
continents
aren’t
able
to
invoke
an
affection
that
could
transcend
cultures
and
borders.