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Bullet Train (2022)
King Reviews: Bullet Train
Before becoming a director, Davis Leitch worked in Hollywood for years as a stuntman and became the long-time stuntman for actor Brad Pitt. Pitt and Leitch worked together on numerous films, starting their work relationship with Fincher's Fight Club. Over the past decade, Leitch has become a promising director in the action genre, starting as co-director (he was uncredited) of the first John Wick film, which has since become The Action Movie Franchise of the Decade. Leitch then went solo to helm Atomic Blonde, 2, and Fast and Furious presents: Hobbs and Shaw. Now, Leitch and Pitt reunite for the film Bullet Train, an adaptation of the book of the same name by Kotaro Isaka.
Pitt shows off his leading man personality once again as the character Ladybug. A hitman for hire who has found a new belief in pacifism and whose self-confidence has gone way down over the years from jobs going off the rails, making himself believe that he has bad luck. His boss (Sandra Bullock) gives him a simple mission as his first job back. His job is to board a Bullet Train traveling from Tokyo to Kyoto, snatch a briefcase that contains millions of dollars, and get off at the first stop. Simple, right? Well, it turns out to be not that simple, as Ladybug realizes that he is not the only assassin on this train, and they are all connected to a ruthless Russian mobster known to them as The White Death (Michael Shannon).
The assassin's on this train include Lemon and Tangerine (Brian Tyree Henry and Aaron Taylor Johnson), twin brothers hired to bring the White Death's son (Logan Lerman) back to him, along with the briefcase. The Prince (Joey King) is a young girl on a mission to kill The White Death. Kimura (Andrew Koji) is a father trying to find the person responsible for the attempted murder of his son, along with his father The Elder (Hiroyuki Sanada), an aging samurai who suffered at the hands of The White Death. The Wolf (Bad Bunny), a member of the Mexican Cartel who seeks vengeance for the murder of his wife, and The Hornet (Zazie Beetz), an assassin who uses the venom from a rare snake on her targets.
Bullet Train excellences with the visual presentation, unlike the fair share of modern-day action films. The cinematography is very colorful and vibrant. Lots of care into the framing of each shot. One scene, in particular, is shot through the POV of an object, and it's beautifully executed. Leitch brings his history of stunt work into the film by providing entertaining action scenes that never feel cheap or manipulated. Every punch and kick feels real. The camera work also helps with the action, making it feel electric. Action films of modern times don't have anymore. They rely on the workings of shaky cam and editing tricks to hide the imperfections with the action but hiding this only makes the film worse because this mashup makes the film look messy and unprofessional. The action makes each scene feel fun and keeps the audience. The production design is creative as well. Most films that take place in one setting suffer from having the locations feel dull, but Bullet Train keeps it exciting by having several different locations all packed into one, and each one feels unique with its lighting
The performances are superb compared to most in the action genre. Brad Pitt isn't doing much that he hasn't already done in the last two decades, but his leading man charisma still leaves the audience loving him. Aaron Taylor Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry's chemistry is so strong that it's one of the most entertaining dynamic duos in recent memory.
The film fails with its messy screenplay. The film resembles a hodgepodge of every Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino film, to the point that it feels like a ripoff. The problem doesn't come from the notion that a screenwriter would want to make a film that pays homage to his favorite writers/directors. Tarantino built his entire career by copying the style of other filmmakers and writers. The problem with this is that it lacks the originality of those films and feels like it's giving us the best moments of those movies without offering anything new and this style done wrong causes major pacing problems, making a two-hour film feel way longer than it should. The editing feels jumbled, committing the ultimate sin of modern movies: spelling everything out for the audience. It's like the director thinks the audience is too dumb to remember something that happened earlier, so his way of working around it is to keep showing us those same moments until it becomes repetitive. The characters aren't developed properly, so at the end of the day, nothing feels earned. While the characters are fun to watch and keep your interest throughout the runtime, the emotions aren't there for them to hit. When bad things happen to them, it never fully gives brings out the intended emotions that the audience is supposed to feel.
Bullet Train is a technical achievement spoiled by its messy storytelling. A fun movie to see in theaters but one that isn't worth a revisit at home.
6/10.
Good Joe Bell (2020)
Good message, lackluster way of telling it.
Mark Wahlberg (Boogie Nights, The Departed) plays the title character of Joe Bell, a man who begins to walk cross country from La Grande, Oregon to New York City, to speak to people about bullying. Joe's journey begins after his son Jadin (Reid Miller) committed suicide due to the hatred and bullying he faced because of being openly gay. Through the film, we receive flashbacks of Jadin being bullied and having to deal with his father trying to understand him but not being able too and Joe throughout his mission begins to see visions of Jadin and having conversations with the "ghost" of Jadin. We also get a few scenes with Joe's wife Lola played by Connie Britton (Nashville, Me and Earl and The Dying Girl), who also deals with both the loss of her son and the departure of Joe.
Joe Bell's strongest quality is a solid performance by Wahlberg. Wahlberg brings his charisma and also a sense of guilt to Joe, with loud outbursts of anger and toxic masculinity. The best scenes in the film were between Wahlberg and Miller. Scenes of Joe and Jadin singing Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" and doing cheerleading practices in the rain helped bring the loveable dynamic of these two characters. The film relies on the backs of these two characters and they both pull off solidly.
But this leads to the biggest problem I have with the film as well: The character of Jadin himself. Jadin is portrayed in an almost offensive stereotype of a young teenage boy who is gay. He raves about Broadway, Lady Gaga, and Cher, he dresses as David Bowie at a Halloween party, and acts very flamboyant, almost like a bad gay character we would have seen in a terribly dated sitcom. I understand that this could have been a real-life depiction of Jadin, but when you're making a film, it may be wise to know what to use and what to leave out. Jadin feels very one-dimensional and is only used as an allegory and not a character. While I did feel bad for Jadin, his story didn't affect me that I wish it would. I should have been crying for what happened to Jadin, not feeling a little bid of sadness. Jadin begins a relationship with a football player who still hasn't been able to come out which ultimately leads nowhere in the film and is only there to put the message of the film out there.
Connie Britton is given nothing to do in the film besides be Joe's confidant and the one who calls him out on his ignorance. Joe Bell's own character arc feels rushed. We never get to see him speak up much about bullying or go to these meetings only a few times and we never see Joe grow from those experiences. A scene near the film which features Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump, Of Mice and Men) as a local sheriff that Joe comes across on his journey tried to show us this arc, but it felt told to us and not shown. They show Joe becoming a local celebrity with having TV interviews and people asking for pictures, but even that doesn't add much in the end.
The screenplay feels weirdly structured, littered with flashbacks, and tells the story in reverse. I think it would have benefited from only having the flashbacks with Jadin and the escalation of his bullying, everything else after that should have been featured at the beginning of the film. I predicted the ending for which I found to be very under-whelming (obviously I know they couldn't change that because it happened in real life).
Joe Bell is a film that feels 10 years too late. The message, for which I completely support and agree with, almost feels as though in parts it's hitting over the head as if it thinks the audience is stupid. Over the 21st century, we see a bunch of films that talk about the experiences of gay people (Brokeback Mountain, Milk, Mysterious Skin, Call Me By Your Name, Moonlight) that the film felt lost in translation
5/10.