Ladybug (Brad Pitt) walks through Tokyo while talking to his handler on his cell phone. He is only recently back on the job and rambles about his therapist, Barry, while he makes his way to the train station. Today's job is to be a simple snatch & grab. He is to get a briefcase and get off the train. Easy peasy. Of course, it doesn't go quite so smoothly. Though he gets his hand on the case, he is intercepted by a vengeful Mexican assassin as he tried to exit the train. Also on the train are The Prince (Joey King), Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry) & Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), Kimura (Andrew Koji), and the Hornet (Zazie Beetz). Most of them are also after the briefcase and will kill to get it. Though Ladybug is the main character, the plot follows each of the others and often provides a flashback of what brought them to the bullet train. The macgoffin of the movie - the briefcase - belongs to the White Death (Michael Shannon), a murderous Russian who killed his way into being a Yakuza boss.
Here is an action-packed romp, a film full of interesting characters, entertaining fights, and some witty repartee. Oddly, there is a lot of time spent on luck, fate, destiny, and such. Ladybug views himself as having the worst luck - which certainly seems to be the case here. The White Death sees what fate has dealt him and set about killing the various troubles in his path. The Elder (Hiroyuki Sanada) sees fate turning in his favor after many years of waiting. Prince operates as if she were playing a game in which she needs to anticipate moves and get the various players to the right spot at the right time. Where Brad Pitt had an extended cameo in The Lost City, both Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum appear here. Even Ryan Reynolds had a cameo! Though mostly an action flick, there is plenty of humor.
Great popcorn fun and recommended!
