Bullet Train (2022)

July 18, 2022 (Grand Rex) August 5, 2022 (United States)

July 18, 2022 (Grand Rex)
August 5, 2022 (United States)

Bullet Train is a 2022 American action comedy thriller film directed by David Leitch from a screenplay by Zak Olkewicz, and produced by Antoine Fuqua, who initially conceived the film. It is based on the 2010 novel Maria Beetle (titled Bullet Train in its UK and US edition) by Kōtarō Isaka. The film stars Brad Pitt as a begrudging assassin who must battle fellow killers while riding a fictionalized version of the Tokaido Shinkansen. In addition to Pitt, the film stars an ensemble cast which also includes Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Bad Bunny, and Sandra Bullock.

Principal photography began in Los Angeles in November 2020 and wrapped in March 2021. Bullet Train premiered in Paris on July 18, 2022, and was theatrically released in the United States on August 5, 2022, by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film has grossed $238.4 million worldwide on a production budget of around $90 million, and received mixed reviews from critics.

Storyline

Yuichi Kimura, "the Father", boards a bullet train in Tokyo in search of the person who pushed his young son, Wataru, off the roof of a building, leaving the boy comatose. Meanwhile, guided by his handler Maria Beetle, operative "Ladybug" is assigned to retrieve a briefcase full of cash from the same train, replacing a sick colleague, Carver. Ladybug is reluctant, as his recent string of bad luck during his jobs resulted in accidental deaths. Also on the train are two British assassin brothers, codenamed "Lemon" and "Tangerine", who just rescued a man ("the Son") from kidnappers and are taking him and the briefcase to his father, a Russian-born Yakuza crime lord called "the White Death". During the trip, the Son is killed by poisoning. Ladybug discreetly steals the briefcase, but on his way off the train, is attacked by the assassin codenamed "the Wolf", who recognizes Ladybug from his wedding, where his wife was killed. The Wolf mistakenly believes Ladybug to be one of her killers, but during their altercation, he is accidentally killed with his own knife. Yuichi determines who pushed Wataru, a young woman codenamed "the Prince", but she outsmarts him. She lured him onto the train as part of a plan to have him kill his boss, the White Death. To ensure Yuichi's cooperation, she has a henchman holding Wataru hostage in the hospital.

Recognizing Lemon from a job in Johannesburg gone wrong, Ladybug offers to return the case in exchange for being allowed to leave. Lemon suspects that he killed the Son, leading to a fight during which Lemon is knocked unconscious, and Ladybug spikes his water with sleeping powder. Tangerine wakes Lemon and they both split off to find Ladybug and frame him for the Son's murder. The Prince finds the briefcase, booby-traps it with explosives, and rigs Yuichi's gun to explode if fired. Ladybug encounters Tangerine and, after avoiding the White Death's men, kicks him off the train as it departs, but he manages to climb back aboard from outside. Suspicious of the two, Lemon shoots Yuichi and is about to shoot the Prince, but collapses after drinking the spiked water. The Prince shoots Lemon and conceals him and Yuichi in a bathroom.

Ladybug encounters the assassin "the Hornet", who poisoned both the Wolf's wedding party and the Son with boomslang snake venom. After a struggle, both are exposed to the venom, but Ladybug takes the Hornet's antivenom before she can, killing her. Tangerine runs into the Prince and notices one of Lemon's train stickers on her, realizing that she shot Lemon. Ladybug interrupts them and kills Tangerine before he can shoot the Prince. At the next stop, Yuichi's father, "the Elder", boards the train. He recognizes the Prince's voice and informs her that Wataru is safe as her henchman has been killed. After she flees, the Elder tells Ladybug he will remain to confront the White Death, who killed his wife while taking over the yakuza. Finding Yuichi and Lemon still alive, the four work together and prepare to face the White Death.

At Kyoto, Ladybug gives the White Death the briefcase. The Prince, revealed to be the White Death's daughter, fails to goad him into shooting her with the rigged gun. The White Death explains that each of the assassins, as well as the Son, were linked to the death of his wife. He hired them hoping they would kill each other, not knowing Carver (his wife's killer) was replaced by Ladybug. The White Death's henchmen open the briefcase, which explodes, knocking Ladybug and the White Death back onto the train. The White Death's remaining henchmen board and battle the assassins, while the Elder duels the White Death. The train crashes into downtown Kyoto.

Emerging from the wreck, impaled with the Elder's katana, the White Death tries to kill Ladybug, but the Prince's rigged gun explodes in his face. The Prince threatens Ladybug, Yuichi, and the Elder with a machine gun but is run over by a truck full of tangerines driven by Lemon. Maria arrives to retrieve Ladybug, while Japanese authorities begin to clean up the damage caused by the train crash.

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