Movie review roundup

Bullet train

Bullet train is a 2022 fast-paced action comedy with some mystery elements. The story is about Ladybug, a peaceful assassin played by Brad Pitt. Ladybug doesn’t want to kill anyone. He instead tries his best to knock people out or put them to sleep. Ladybug is hired to retrieve a suitcase that is somewhere on the bullet train. However, he does not realize that the train is filled with other assassins and dangerous people, who are also after the suitcases. All the assassins in the movie have secret code names. This film is fun to watch. The action scenes were excellent and hilarious at the same time. Nearly the whole film takes place on the train, although I never felt it got boring. Again, the action scenes are excellent. Lots of thought was put into them, especially as a train is tight spaces, and they made use of their environments well. The stunt work was excellent.

Another enjoyable aspect of the film is the cast. Brad Pitt is highly talented at playing Ladybug. I enjoyed seeing Brad play a bit less of a serious role and a more fun character. He pulled this off very well. Brad was fantastic at playing this unique type of assassin that I don’t think has been done before. This was an enjoyable aspect of the film. Brad did nearly all his own stunts.

Throughout the film, we are introduced to two of the assassins called Tangerine and Lemon brothers. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Tangerine and Lemon is played by Brian Tyree Henry. I thought Aaron Taylor Johnson was very good at playing two sides to him, as one side of his character is not very likable, and the audience sees the softer side of his character. Aaron also changes his voice a lot. Sometimes, he can sound aggressive and angry, but other times, he can be very polite and kind. Brian Tyree Henry plays Lemon, which is very lively and brings many comedy elements to the film. Lemon, throughout the film, is very much like a detective at times. Brian brought his character to life and I think Lemon will be a fan favorite. One thing I loved about his character and an important theme throughout the film is how much he loves Thomas the tank engine, this is rather clever since the film is set on a train. Lemon also has a sticker pack of Thomas the tank engine. When Lemon speaks about Thomas the tank engine, you can hear how much passion and how it comes from the heart in Brian’s voice. This shows that even adults can like kid’s things. Brian and Aaron’s characters did feel like siblings as they love each other but always have small disagreements.

Another assassin we meet during this film is called Prince, played by Joey King. Joey is another talented actress and portrays her character well. Prince acts all innocent but is probably the most messed up on the train and likes to trick people. Her character switches personalities, and it’s like a game for her. Prince orchestrates things in her mind, watches them play out without caring or sympathy, and does it more for her own enjoyment. She is just like whatever and carry’s on. One part I like about Joey’s portrayal is when a person is dying, they grab onto her, and she looks at them, disgusted that they touch her and her facial expression is like, EW don’t touch me you are disgusting when Prince finishes off shooting the character her face go emotionless.

There was lots of comedy that made this film very enjoyable. There are some scenes that I thought were funny between Ladybug and Tangerine. For example, they fight but let each other take breaks. Another scene between these characters is a scene where Ladybug and Tangerine are discussing killing each other, but talking about it in such a normal way, like they are friends just having a normal conversation that they do most days. This was very entertaining to watch and You could tell that Brad and Aaron had great chemistry together and all the cast had good chemistry.

Although this film is fun, I did find it at times to be confusing. The overall story was easy to understand, but if you overthink it or think about some of the character’s motives or reasons, then they don’t make sense fully in my opinion. I thought they could have explained or made it a bit clearer. I also thought some final scenes felt a bit rushed, for example, nearly all the characters just suddenly disappear and are forgotten about at the end. This I wasn’t too happy with and was a bit disappointed. I would have liked to of had a bit more of a conclusion. During the film a character explains that it was easy for them to convince or manipulate a person to come up to a high building with them, this was never shown or explained how, so would have liked to see an extra short scene showing this. A few scenes throughout the movie felt a small amount slow but never for too long.

During the post-credit scene, I heard a person let out a small clap, so make sure to stay for the one post-credit scene. If you are looking for a movie that is a fast-paced unique action comedy without consistent swearing for jokes, then this film is for you. Definitely worth seeing in cinemas with an audience.

The Princess

The story follows a princess whose father the king has lived in peace for many years. The princess refuses to marry a ruthless son of a royal diplomat. In a rage, he kidnaps and locks the princess in a tower, so he can marry her and become king. This film is an hour and a half of non-stop action. You can have a fun time watching. It felt a bit like a video game in my opinion, and alike as the story continues the more you progress through the game. The movie switches between flashbacks of the princess’s childhood and upbringing and her relationship with her family and friends.

What I liked about this film is that it starts like a normal kid’s princess fairy tale movie. The princess sleeping in a bed, this gave the opening a warm peaceful vibe, But quickly changes into this battle between the princess and the guards and can be a bit gory at times. This, I think, is a very clever twist on usual princess films and shows not to judge a book by its cover. Another comedic character Is one of the guards, who is fat and throughout the film he has been searching for the princess but takes ages to get up the stairs. Throughout the film we see him walking up and down the tower trying to find the princess. Numerous times the princess and the guard pass or are next to each other without realising. This made me laugh many times, especially a scene at the very end.

Joey king plays the princess and is fantastic at what she has to work with. The princess is badass and kicks ass Throughout this film. Joey did lots of her stunts. The princess during her fights has some comedic one-liners. She can do it all, from sword fighting, to punching and kicking people out of windows. I would have liked to have seen a few more varied fight techniques, but apart from that, she was great. Dominic Cooper I thought was very good at playing the evil Julius. You could see the anger and facial expressions in his eyes.

Although I did think, this film didn’t have the best script, they could have done a lot more with the story. I would have preferred a bit more dialogue throughout the film. Throughout the first half, the princess does not have lots of dialogue. At times the music was very hit-and-miss as every so often it was old music and sometimes current music during battles. This film is filled with action, but the story lacks. I thought this film was fun but was expecting more from it, unfortunately.

If you are looking for a film with strong badass girl’s characters or just want to watch an action film that’s easy to understand with most of the film being non-stop constant fights and action, then this film is for you!