Metacritic reviews

Unlike so many of the cookie-cutter, wisecracking-assassin movies in recent memory, Bullet Train acknowledges its outlandishness from the beginning and yet also manages to connect so many dots in creative, gotcha fashion.

Leitch embarks on a series of adrenalized set pieces that defy logic and physics so breezily that its relentless, ridiculous violence plays more like a winsome ballet.

The cameos and third act actor introductions turn this into an all-star romp — of sorts — further lightening the tone.

Bullet Train is knowingly absurd and has plenty of fun with the wild lengths it can go, and for the most part, that keeps Bullet Train on the rails.

The craziness of David Leitch's train never goes off the rails nor reaches top speeds but still brings us along for a smooth and stable joyride that outshines its recent American action counterparts.

The action is first-class, and Brad Pitt and Aaron Taylor-Johnson are having a blast — but with all that hyperactive style and cartoonish violence, you’ll be ready to disembark by its final destination.

Pitt’s stardom has never been more obvious, and it shines bright enough here for everything else to get lost in the glare.

There’s a universe where Bullet Train works — lean harder into the gaudy, neon-pop anime aesthetic, ditch the too-clever character work, and add some honest-to-God jokes into the mix. Unfortunately, as it stands, Bullet Train feels like a lost spec script from the mid-2000s, given a fresh new coat of paint and a few script reworks by some Reddit teens.

All Bullet Train had to be was high-gloss, all-star, late-summer nonsense, but instead it gives high-gloss, all-star, late-summer nonsense a bad name.

Leitch’s talky, violent hit man movie, with Brad Pitt at the center of an over-cranked ensemble cast, reminds us why Hollywood has all but abandoned attempts to copy the successes of Tarantino and Ritchie. This film is not just bloated, tedious, dim-witted, and glib, it’s also redundant.