Movies set almost entirely on public transport are a real mixed bag. The creators of Snakes on a Plane could have done everyone a favor and simply released the title, without the need for the one-hour 46-minute picture… its name really is that self-explanatory. It’s rather telling that aside from the snake-riddled aircraft, the most momentous scene remains a lactose-loving python clamping its fangs into the breast of a newly-anointed member of the mile-high club. Comparatively, 2013’s Locke is set solely in Ivan Locke’s (Tom Hardy) car and, while sounding like a snooze-fest, is a breathtakingly intense affair that motors on down a highway despite the endless narrative obstacles figuratively strewn in his way. Hardy plays a man plagued by pressing work matters and devastating personal issues, and his acting erudition while confined to the monotonous surroundings of a BMW X5 is exceptional.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
David Leitch’s Bullet Train, released earlier this month, sits firmly on the Locke side of the road. Filmed on a Japanese-powered bullet train, the same prospective problem could arise with such a repetitive, concordant location, yet these preconceptions are quickly dissipated by a wealth of acting talent, a razor-sharp script, and an effective utilization of its snake on a train storyline (take note, Snakes on a Plane filmmakers). Bullet Train has been the recipient of mixed reviews, but despite some negativity regarding the movie being half-baked mediocrity, the film fuses action and comedy together with great success, and here is how Leitch and co. achieved it…
Fruity Assortment: Tangerine and Lemon
Sony Pictures Releasing
While the film’s cast is dotted with an eclectic mix of comic potential, Tangerine (Aaron Taylor Johnson) and Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry, unrecognizable from his role as Paper Boi in Atlanta) do a lot of the comedic heavy lifting. The jocular duo sound more like another one of Fanta’s summery, fruity assortments than a cold-blooded pair of hired killers. The film is devoid of a romantic narrative strand, so the self-proclaimed ‘brothers’ relationship takes on that capacity, with their old-married-couple-style bickering and unhealthy brotherly competition, yet they remain guided by their overarching care for each other.
We are reminded, via heartwarming flashbacks, of their shared love for West Ham United and the backing track of the film “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” (which is the football club’s anthem), and the origin of their lifelong friendship. Arguably one of the sweetest moments of the film is Tangerine’s discovery of Lemon’s supposed ‘corpse,’ touchingly placing his necklace pendant around his dead brother’s neck. Both Taylor-Johnson and Henry’s comedic timing is impeccable, and their outlandish disregard for the threat that the feared “White Death” poses for them is hilarious in equal measure. Tyree Henry’s questionable, American-infused cockney accent aside, the East End pairing was such a hit with fans that they deserve a prequel of their own.
Comically Oxymoronic Costumes on the Bullet Train
While conspicuous in their very nature, costumes unfortunately tend to be one of the more forgettable features of cinema. However, in the case of Bullet Train, the costume has the propensity to be rather oxymoronic. Sporting Aquascutum-inspired trench coats and Savile Row suits, their dress code is a nod to Bond, or perhaps more accurately, the nouveau riche (a.k.a nouveau Ritchie) geezers in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, or Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman movies. There is a certain suave, sartorial sophistication to Lemon and Tangerine’s attire, which in itself, creates this oxymoron, with their childlike behavior not in line with their overall appearance.
Persistently blocking aisles and being aggressively shoved out of the way, Momomon, the anime mascot, is Bullet Train’s version of a big, squidgy, and innocent distraction, a children’s entertainer causing spacial inconvenience, obstructing killers from, well… killing each other. However, it transpires that Momomon is a murderous contract killer under the cuddly guise of an anime mascot, which again represents somewhat of a contradiction. Joey King takes on the role of Prince, the White Death’s daughter, disguised as an irreproachable school girl with the “pick-me” eyes, protesting that she is an innocent bystander, in spite of her really being a deviant out to kill her own father.
Combining Action and Comedy in Bullet Train
There is no build-up, foreplay, or readying of the guard before the action begins; Bullet Train rather shoots into life almost instantaneously. Leitch is a director and former stuntman and action choreographer accustomed to a fight scene with the likes of Atomic Blonde in his previous arsenal, and as far as his new flick is concerned, the knife-flicking, samurai-wielding mortal combat that goes from carriage-to-carriage marries the comedy with the action superbly.
Brad Pitt, the film’s protagonist, plays Ladybug, an unstoppable force who develops quite the Boxrec resume while onboard Japan’s signature travel provider on its way to Kyoto. The action sequences are fantastic, the choreography impressively inventive despite the limited space and resources available to the characters, but they become truly great thanks to the sarcastic retorts and conversation throughout them. Dialogue during the fight scenes is a thoroughly welcome addition; while it may, at times, deduct from the sense of impending danger, it adds a comical vigor as characters exchange amusing utterances while catching their breath in-between rounds. Many of the fights resemble a sort of outline of a comic-strip melee, where the carnage that ensues invariably ends in a humorous injury or death.
Overall, Bullet Train doesn’t pull up any rails, nor challenge any conventions. However, it undeniably combines action and comedy to triumphant effect without sacrificing one to boost the other like most action comedies.
