Following the Bank Holiday weekend in the UK, Netflix's updated popular movies chart has seen yet another new entry charge into the ranks. It's a modern Brad Pitt classic that takes the no.1 spot – but while I love it, it clearly splits opinion, with many viewers less enthusiastic.
Bullet Train, which hit cinemas back in 2022, is helmed by David Leitch, whose credits include directing John Wick (2014) and Deadpool 2 (2018), among many other big successes. If you're attuned to that kind of zany action movie aesthetic then I think Bullet Train will surprise and delight.
However, the Rotten Tomatoes consensus differs: Bullet Train has a measly 54% critics' rating on the review aggregator site; viewers, meanwhile, aren't unanimous – with its 74% score made up of various lovers and haters.
"It's so bananas you're going to love it or hate it," quips one verified RT review. Which puts these next two comments into context: "Possibly the shittest film I've ever seen!", contrasted by "It kept getting better & better - so hilarious!" from another reviewer. Divisive is clearly the word.
Personally I found the whole movie a total thrill ride. It's comical, it's stylistic, it's often completely ridiculous – but Bullet Train absolutely knows this. That it so confidently delivers is made all the easier by a stellar cast, no doubt.
With Brad Pitt playing Ladybug, a for-hire assassin suffering anxiety about his professional abilities, the movie nets a well-established star to carry its merit. Pitt is famous for so many other fan-favourites, though, that Bullet Train splits opinion like no other. Seven (1995), Fight Club (1999), Snatch (2000), The Departed (2006) – just four examples of high-90s-rated movies he's starred in.
Elsewhere on the cast, Bullet Train deploys Aaron Taylor Johnson to incredible effect as Tangerine; Brian Tyree Henry is his partner in crime, Lemon; Joey King is mesmerising as Prince; while even Michael Shannon, Hiroyuki Sanada and Sandra Bullock each have bitparts to play.
I'm not surprised the movie has rocketed to the no.1 spot in Netflix's chart. But before you write it off as a miss given the ratings, I'd say if you're perusing the best streaming services one spare evening and fancy a funny, zany action movie that kicks ass while being firmly tongue-in-cheek the whole way through, give Bullet Train a shot. It'll look particularly epic on one of the best OLED TVs, too, such as the Sony A95L.
