The New Review - Bullet Train

Bullet Train

Directed by David Leitch

Starring Brad Pitt and many many more

Concept: A man doing a job involving stealing a briefcase filled with $10mil gets caught up in SO much more.

Execution

Here we go...

Cast: This a perfectly cast ensemble. Brad Pitt, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael Shannon, Bad Bunny(yes, that Bad Bunny), Zazee Beets. And not a single wasted casting. Score: 20/20

Presentation: A very Japanese movie, which is the point. It takes place on a Bullet Train. Includes a few famous songs translated into Japanese. Best thing about the atmosphere is that is takes place on a bullet train. And each car is vastly different. One environment... but many sub-environments. Score: 20/20

Chronicle: The story starts very slow. And that is to subvert expectations. What you think the move is from the trailer... that is how the movie starts. Then you go into the meat of the movie. Plenty of exposition. But each exposit scene is fun. And the 3rd act makes up for whatever slowness the beginning of the movie has. Balanced with all the sub stories going on, and all of them connected, paired with all of the stylistic violence that ALSO tells a story. Like Murder on the Orient Express if Hercule Poirot was played by Deadpool(not Ryan Reynolds... the character DEADPOOL). Score: 28/30

Impact: Based on a book, and you know how book adaptation are: either spot on or not even close. This makes a few small changes, and one big one that just... works better. It shows just how good adaptations can be in the 2 hour movie format. The action sequences prove that the small scale, controlled action of John Wick can work with different mediums AND can work with comedy. The impact of the movie is weighed less from this movie, and more on the John Wick series. It really was the first attempt outside of John Wick to use this style of action. And I'm going to give you a new Term of Entertainment Endearment(which I am going to make a post about): Intimate Combat. Because of that... Score: 22/20

Extra Oomph: The cast... I could talk about bigger parts the whole post, but I am going to highlight 2 small ones. First... I watched this movie twice already. It was until the SECOND watch through that I noticed Karen Fukuhara was the cute snack cart girl. Don't know the name? Katana in Suicide Squad and Kimiko in The Boys. THAT Karen Fukuhara. Yeah. It was a small role, but it was cool that I couldn't tell at first. The second small role... Bad Bunny. Bad Bunny plays The Wolf. An assassin. If you've seen the trailer, you've seen the big fight scene. But the small character backstory exposition, the fight scene itself, and a bit of situational comedy(you'll know what I mean)... I fully believe Bad Bunny could be a GREAT actor if he wanted to be. And I fan cast him in a reboot for Desperado already. Cast Karen in more stuffs... and get Bad Bunny on his movie star track... now. Score: 10/10

FINAL SCORE: 100/100

FINAL GRADE: A++

Conclusion: Yes, Bullet Train does start a little slow with ZERO exposition on Ladybug's behalf. But if your attention span is long enough to get past the small slow opening... this one of the BEST movies I've seen in quite awhile.

It's all a matter of opinion: I cannot stress enough that THIS is MY opinion, you can either agree with me or not. I don't have to justify my opinion, because *clears throat* that's what this blog is about. Whether I like it or not doesn't mean you have to or not...... I'ts just my justification behind MY recommendation... Which leads me to my FINAL JUDGMENT...

FINAL JUDGMENT: Go watch it... a few times... and then buy it on disc and/or streaming. And then get a back up copy.

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There is folks... Bullet Train gets a PERFECT score. And it deserves it.

Have you seen it? What do you think? Plan on seeing it?

Comment and share!

Until next time...

Don't forget...

Renewed Top 15 - August Dump Month

It is that time again. Time for the monthly post, and according to Hollywood, Blockbuster seasin is over... so... now it is time for our second set of Dump months.

If you checked the title, you will see a Top 15, and that is because since it is the late Summer Dump month, I wanted you to see the Diversity with movies I love from the month of August.

I almost didn't number the list, because there are a handful on the list that could be interchangeable based on mood. But I settled on the list you are about it see... and... you are about to see a FIRST for this series. What is it? You'll see.

So... let's start with the Box Office Top 5.

1. Guardians of the Galaxy $333m

2. Suicide Squad $325m

3. The Sixth Sense $293m

4. Signs $227m

5. The Bourne Ultimatum $224m

Already some diversity. So what about my list?

Well...

Top 15 August Movies

Here we go...

Honorable Mention 1: Unforgiven(8/7/1992): I'm not the biggest fan of westerns, but this later in life classic with Clint Eastwood was pretty damn good.

Honorable Mention 2: Flatliners(8/10/1990): Not to be confused with the subpar remake, this movie had a STELLAR cast and a great premise with medical students trying to force near death experiences and dealing with the consequences.

Honorable Mention 3: Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back(8/24/2001): Make no mistake, I love this extremely Meta Kevin Smith film. The reason I kept it off the list is... I don't remember it being released to theaters. I know it was, I think. But I just don't remember it being in theaters. Granted... my life was really weird during that time frame, but it wouldn't surprise me if it didn't get released only to select theaters.

15. Collateral(8/6/2004): Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx in a wonder dynamic film about a cabbie taken hostage by a hitman as he is during jobs around the city. Proof of how good Tom Cruise is... proof of how good Jamie Foxx was going to be.

14. Halloween(8/31/2007)/Halloween 2(8/28/2009): Included both, and if you are keeping score, these are the Rob Zombie films. Now, that we have the continuation of the original series, this one isn't as important anymore. But it is fun revisionist take on the Michael Myers tale.

13. Jack(8/9/1996): I love Robin Williams. And this movie about a 10 year old with a rare condition that makes him age 4 times as fast(so he looks 40). And his best adventure yet... public school. It has plenty of tropes you would expect... and it is a very Robin Williams movie.

12. Bambi(8/21/1942): A Disney Classic. And was my first movie I remember seeing as a kid. One of the rereleases of it, and it was at the Crump. If you know... you know 

11. Don't Breathe(8/26/2016): Steven Lang in a very anxiety inducing thriller. I've seen many horror films... I've seen many thrillers. And this is still the most anxious I've ever been watching a movie.

10. Mortal Kombat(8/18/1995): Yes, the original. It isn't a great movie... it doesn't hold up. But it is still an enjoyable movie for those who grew up with the games.

9. Fast Times at Ridgemont High(8/13/1982): The Quintessential High Schooler movie. Still makes me think of Sean Penn as an airhead, even after all the other work he has done.

8. Scott Pilgrim vs The World(8/13/2010): The movie based on a book series basically set in a video game world... that eventually became a video game. Fun fact: the ending is different than the books because the books weren't done yet. Un-fun fact: Michael Cera really just plays himself.

7. The Expendables(8/13/2010): Classic Action Stars kicking major ass and blowing shit up. That is what this movie is. Don't watch it for the plot. Because it is paper thin.

6. The Fly(8/15/1986): Science experiment gone wrong that turns a scientist into a Fly creature... and somehow turned Jeff Goldblum into a sex symbol.

5. The Sixth Sense(8/6/1999): M. Night's Twisty Magnum Opus about a kid who sees dead people and counselor who wished he didn't.

4. Desperado(8/25/1995): Story of a mariachi singer with a guitar case full of guns. This is the movie that introduced me to both Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek. And... damn. This movie is STILL legendary. The "Okay... it's me." scene is one of my favorites of all time.

3. Uncle Buck(8/16/1989): John Candy. The Car. The GIANT Pancakes. And Macaulay Culkin. This was such a great film. John Candy... you are SO missed.

2. Guardians of the Galaxy(8/1/2014): One of my favorite MCU movies. It represents one of the biggest risks the MCU have taken. A team that casual fans would never have heard of is now a household name. All because of James Gunn and a STELLAR cast.

And now... the Number 1 movie released in August is...

1. Bullet Train(8/6/2022): YES! For the first time, a movie from THIS year on one of these lists, and the number one spot!!! Like Murder on The Orient Express crossed with Deadpool and John Wick. So much fun. And shows you how adapting a book to the big screen can be more enjoyable than you expect!!!(review up soon)

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What did you think of this month's list? I had a large pool to choose from this month, and I represented my likes... but wow the diversity!!!

This was the first dump month after the string of Blockbuster movies. Hopefully you see what that really means now. And September is a dump month too. So... we will see how this month goes!

Until next time...

Don't forget...