--- title: "Bullet Train" year: 2022 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/bullet-train" fi1m_score: 56 critics_score: 48 critics_reviews: 28 published: "2026-09-17T00:50:15.271068+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T00:50:15.745185+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Bullet Train (2022) Directed by David Leitch · 2h 06m · MPA R · Action, Comedy, Thriller **Fi1m score: 56** · Critics 48 from 28 reviews *In a sentence:* A train full of assassins and a script that pulls the emergency cord every ten minutes to explain itself > Brad Pitt in a bucket hat, Brian Tyree Henry quoting Thomas the Tank Engine and a fistfight conducted in whispers make for a likeable first hour. Then the flashbacks pile up, the villain is explained a third time, and the effects department takes the train. ## Synopsis Ladybug (Brad Pitt) is a hired operative back from a long break spent in therapy, and he would rather not hurt anyone. His handler Maria (Sandra Bullock), a voice in his earpiece, gives him a simple job: board the bullet train out of Tokyo, lift a silver briefcase and get off at the first stop. On board are Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry), two English killers escorting the rescued son (Logan Lerman) of a crime lord called White Death (Michael Shannon), along with the ransom in that same briefcase. Kimura (Andrew Koji), a father with business of his own, has boarded too; a schoolgirl called Prince (Joey King) is waiting for him. Ladybug misses his stop. ## Review Ladybug (Brad Pitt) has been off work having therapy and comes back to the trade of hired violence with a bucket hat, some affirmations and no wish to hurt anyone. His handler Maria (Sandra Bullock), a voice in his ear, has a job so small she calls it a snatch and grab: board the bullet train out of Tokyo, take a briefcase, get off at the next station. He does not get off at the next station, or the one after that. David Leitch’s film runs 126 minutes, and its joke is that a timetable is a plot and every carriage holds someone paid to kill someone else. Zak Olkewicz’s screenplay gives each killer a codename, a freeze-frame and a backstory, in the loud, chaptered manner of the British crime comedies of twenty years ago. What lifts it above imitation for an hour is Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry), two English hitmen who call themselves twins and bicker like a married couple. Taylor-Johnson wears a brown three-piece suit and a moustache he is plainly proud of. Henry plays Lemon as a gentle man who sorts the whole of humanity into characters from *Thomas the Tank Engine*, and his timing is the best thing in the film. The best scene is a fight. Ladybug and Lemon go at each other in the quiet carriage and have to do it in whispers, because a passenger keeps looking up to shush them. We laughed properly, out loud, and the reason is simple: Leitch came up through stunt work and knows a fight is funnier when the fighters have to stay quiet. Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir cuts it to the shushes rather than the punches. It lasts two minutes and the film never tops it. Pitt is agreeable company, playing Ladybug as a man who apologises to people he has just hit. Sarah Evelyn dresses him like a tourist who has given up on the itinerary: glasses, hat and a jacket he could sleep in. Jonathan Sela lights each carriage differently, gold in the bar, hospital white in the quiet car, a family carriage in pink with a cartoon mascot the size of a bouncer. David Scheunemann has built the interiors wider than any real Shinkansen, which is the point: there is room to throw a man. Dominic Lewis’s score keeps pace, and the Japanese-language covers of Western pop laid over it are a good running gag. The trouble is explaining. Every character gets a flashback and several get two, and the film stops dead each time to run one. Ronaldsdóttir’s cutting, so quick in the fights, turns into a rewind button; by the fourth backstory we had stopped laughing, and when a water bottle got a flashback of its own we were checking the time. Michael Shannon’s White Death is discussed for an hour and a half before he is seen. Joey King’s Prince gives the same speech about being underestimated three times. And the last half hour hands the train to the effects department, where things happen to it that we will not describe and did not believe. The people-in-a-corridor film we had been enjoying turns into a computer animation. The waste is Andrew Koji and Hiroyuki Sanada. Koji’s Kimura, a father with a grievance, is the one person on board with a plain reason to be there, and Sanada, when he arrives as the Elder, gives the film its only still minutes. Both are pushed to the edges. Several critics have complained that a Japanese story has gone to a largely Western cast, and we would put it more simply: the film uses Japan as neon and a window of plastic food, and gives the two actors who could have carried it the least to carry. Leitch’s *Atomic Blonde* had a stairwell fight, shot to look like one take, that is still the best thing he has done. Nothing here is allowed to run a minute without a gag or a cut. Most critics came out bored or cross; we were amused, then tired. Watch it at home with someone who will enjoy two hitmen named after fruit arguing about children’s television. When the third flashback starts, you will know whether to stay for the fourth. *Fi1m score 56, published 17 September 2026.* ### Reviews we read (28) - **Empire**, Ben Travis (70/100, inferred): The action and cast chemistry deliver a slick, cartoonish ride with fun set-pieces, but it stays surface-level with shallow themes and tokenistic elements. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/bullet-train/) - **Slant Magazine**, Wes Greene (70/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's verve and craft in blending action with humorous digressions and empathetic characterizations that humanize the violent psychopaths. It notes the narrative momentum and heart beneath the carnage, though the climax becomes overly bombastic. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/bullet-train-review-brad-pitt-sandra-bullock/) - **Total Film** (70/100, inferred): Too many twists and tropes make it flabby, but the cast, comedy, and carnage create a zippy, enjoyable ride buoyed by stylish violence and a disposable A-list ensemble. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/bullet-train-review-brad-pitt/) - **Vulture**, Bilge Ebiri (70/100, inferred): The critic sees the film as elaborate, ridiculous, compelling and fun, with impressive choreography and verve that embraces its artificiality. It highlights the expert staging of action and the film's refusal to take itself too seriously. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/movie-review-bullet-train-starring-brad-pitt.html) - **Radio Times**, Emma Simmonds (60/100, inferred): The critic calls it a mixed bag that settles affably into its stride thanks to charming performances from Pitt, Henry and Taylor-Johnson, but notes the script isn’t always the sharpest and points out issues with whitewashing the source material. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/bullet-train-review/) - **Variety**, Peter Debruge (60/100, inferred): It delivers a cartoonishly over-the-top high-speed battle royal with eccentric assassins and hot-potato plotting choreographed by a former stuntman. The film wears its pop style on its sleeve but lacks the vision or wit of its influences. [Read](https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/bullet-train-review-brad-pitt-1235331291/) - **Sight and Sound** (55/100, inferred): The critic notes some accomplished fight sequences, atmospheric lighting and a game performance from Brad Pitt, but finds the film’s reliance on modern blockbuster tropes grows tiring and its final act drives it off the rails. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/bullet-train-mind-gap-between-its-ears) - **Evening Standard**, Stephanie Bunbury (50/100, inferred): The film is fun up to a point with contrived battles and strong cast moments, but lacks comic snap and the action becomes too insistent and repetitive. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/bullet-train-movie-review-brad-pitt-aaron-taylor-johnson-b1016424.html) - **Los Angeles Times**, Katie Walsh (50/100, inferred): The movie is sleek and shiny on the outside but empty and shallow on the inside, a glib slice of action entertainment that resists revealing any inner life from its characters. The appealing global cast and nonstop action provide some appeal. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-08-07/bullet-train-review-brad-pitt) - **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane (40/100, inferred): The comic nihilism feels labored and the film comes across as a juiced-up version of Murder on the Orient Express without a narrative puzzle to solve. Brad Pitt drifts through the carnage with unbothered charm, the only element to emerge with credit. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/15/why-does-the-comic-nihilism-of-bullet-train-feel-so-labored) - **The AV Club**, Todd Gilchrist (D): The critic calls the film bloated, tedious, dim-witted, and glib, saying it falls short in mimicking Tarantino and Ritchie styles. Pitt's performance drags the film along amid predictability and lack of personality from the director. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/bullet-train-review-brad-pitt-david-leitch-1849358392) - **Financial Times**, Danny Leigh (★★☆☆☆): The critic finds Pitt’s comic chops cannot save an ultra-violent crime caper stuffed with self-delighted banter and meandering execution. They single out the lack of snap and slow-moving pace for complaint despite the star’s nimble performance. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/4b1c7b3d-0307-401b-8344-743344ad8824) - **Screen Daily** (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the self-consciously hip action-comedy bolstered by a game cast led by Brad Pitt but criticises Leitch for indulging in a pseudo-Tarantino mix of outlandish violence and quirky character beats that can’t hide its lack of originality. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/bullet-train-review/5173142.article) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film an exhausting and overwhelmingly unfunny gonzo-violent action comedy that feels like a sub-Guy Ritchie clanger. They single out the placeholder dialogue, unexciting fights and cursory Japanese setting for complaint. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/aug/02/bullet-train-review-brad-pitt-choo-chooses-badly-with-runaway-vehicle) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a high-octane bore, criticizing its tedious plotting, one-note characters, and soulless action despite Pitt's charisma. The review notes the director's stunt background but faults the overall execution and lack of engaging characters. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/bullet-train-brad-pitt-review-1235190275/) - **The i Paper**, Christina Newland (30/100, inferred): It has glimmers of amusement and inventive fight choreography but is too smarmy, convoluted, and assumes viewer stupidity with repetitive exposition and obnoxious tone. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/bullet-train-movie-review-brad-pitt-1776218) - **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis (30/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a watchable but predictably stupid and giddily violent bummer set on a high-speed train turned theater of death. The likable cast and stunt choreography stand out as attractions. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/04/movies/bullet-train-review.html) - **The Times**, Kevin Maher (★★☆☆☆): The critic says even Brad Pitt’s swagger is derailed by the film’s emotional emptiness, describing it as little more than a series of fights on a train. They single out the utter lack of depth in characters and story for complaint. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/bullet-train-review-even-brad-pitts-defiant-swagger-is-derailed-by-the-emotional-emptiness-njwtnrxrm) - **Little White Lies**, Charles Bramesco (3/1/1): The critic dismisses the film as derivative of Tarantino with recycled clichés, smugness-as-comedy and a facile relationship to Japanese cultural signifiers, concluding that the whole thing has run out of steam. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/bullet-train) - **The Telegraph**, Chief Film Critic (1/5): The critic calls the film a runaway wreck and the cinematic equivalent of a delayed, broken-down train. They single out the miscast Brad Pitt, bloated running time and lack of propulsion for complaint. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/bullet-train-review-brad-pitt-goes-rails-runaway-wreck/) - **Collider**, Ross Bonaime (B): The critic finds Bullet Train knowingly absurd and fun overall, praising the cast's chemistry and action sequences, especially those featuring Pitt, Taylor-Johnson, and Henry, while noting repetitive and convoluted plot elements. [Read](https://collider.com/bullet-train-review-brad-pitt-aaron-taylor-johnson-david-leitch/) - **Polygon**, Joshua Rivera (70/100, inferred): The critic describes it as a Looney Tunes-esque action-comedy with strong, characterful action staging and fun performances, particularly Pitt's, though it over-relies on hit-or-miss jokes and could benefit from more focus on its Japanese characters. [Read](https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23288981/bullet-train-review-brad-pitt-john-wick/) - **Digital Spy**, Ian Sandwell (65/100, inferred): The critic calls it an entertaining action-packed ride with inventive fights and a strong ensemble cast that ultimately falls short of an action classic in the final act. The contained setting and darkly funny beats are singled out for praise. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a40768794/bullet-train-review-brad-pitt-joey-king/) - **/Film**, Josh Spiegel (6/10): Bullet Train is a slick but glib and only moderately entertaining adventure that feels indebted to Guy Ritchie films. The critic singles out its light tone and lack of superheroes as a mild positive while noting it falls short of better similar movies. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/948954/bullet-train-review-a-slick-glib-moderately-entertaining-adventure/) - **HeyUGuys**, Emily Breen (3/5): The film is an entertaining but ultimately underwhelming action-comedy that fails to fully capitalize on its premise or source material. The critic praises the Shinkansen setting and some strong supporting performances but criticizes the misjudged tone and lack of depth. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/bullet-train-review/) - **NME**, Paul Bradshaw (3/5): The critic sees it as a raucous ’90s throwback that delivers cracking fight scenes and gleeful gore when Leitch sticks to his strengths, but loses momentum with too many twists and a sloppy CGI ending. Brad Pitt’s charismatic performance is the main highlight. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/bullet-train-review-brad-pitt-3281798) - **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (50/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a frenetic but cartoonish live-action anime that never quite stays on track, with relentless action scenes and a game cast undermined by repetitive plotting and characters lacking any human credibility. Pitt's charisma and strong production values provide some entertainment value. [Read](https://deadline.com/2022/08/bullet-train-review-brad-pitt-1235083123/) - **Den of Geek**, Don Kaye (2/5): The critic finds the film an overlong, tedious and self-satisfied Tarantino knockoff that fails to land its gags or story. Some praise goes to the hard-working performances of Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Joey King and Brian Tyree Henry plus striking design and cinematography. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/bullet-train-brad-pitt-action-movie-tries-too-hard-to-be-quentin-tarantino/) ## Details - **Director:** David Leitch - **Director:** David Leitch - **Screenplay:** Zak Olkewicz - **Cinematography:** Jonathan Sela - **Editor:** Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir - **Music:** Dominic Lewis - **Production design:** David Scheunemann - **Costume design:** Sarah Evelyn - **Producer:** Kelly McCormick, Antoine Fuqua, David Leitch - **Cast:** Brad Pitt as Ladybug; Joey King as Prince; Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Tangerine; Brian Tyree Henry as Lemon; Andrew Koji as Kimura; Hiroyuki Sanada as The Elder; Michael Shannon as White Death; Sandra Bullock as Maria - **Runtime:** 2h 06m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 5 August 2022 - **Genres:** Action, Comedy, Thriller - **Budget:** $90 million - **Box office:** $239 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGeJczJvWns ## Where to watch in the US - Hulu: streaming, uhd - Disney+: add-on, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, uhd - Apple TV: buy $14.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Snatch* (2000), Fi1m 74: The nicknamed-hoodlums template this borrows, done with more snap and a proper ending. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/snatch.md) - *Atomic Blonde* (2017): Leitch’s earlier film, with a stairwell fight that puts everything here in the shade. - *Train to Busan* (2016): A Korean train that never stops either, and everyone on it has a reason to. - *Free Fire* (2016): One room, a dozen guns and ninety minutes; the contained shootout done lean. - *Kung Fu Hustle* (2004): Cartoon violence with real affection for its idiots, and gags that actually land. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/bullet-train