Synopsis
Bullet Train is a movie adaptation that consists of an ensemble of different stories colliding onto one train at the same time. Featuring a star-studded cast of actors all (in some way) looking for the briefcase of The White Death. It would seem that it is fate that brought them all on the train. We are first introduced to Kimura (Andrew Koji) whose son is hospitalized after being pushed off of a roof by Prince (Joey King). Kimura is brought on the train to find Prince and kill her to avenge his son. We then meet the main character Ladybug (Brad Pitt) who is brought on the train for a job where he is tasked to receive the briefcase. While on the train he meets twin brothers Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry) and Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) who already have possession of the briefcase. Soon after The Wolf (Bad Bunny) joins the trains to kill two people for his own personal reasons. One is Ladybug for a previous job he had done and the other is The Hornet (Zazie Beetz), who has subtly left her mark throughout the train.
Ladybug being an unlucky assassin wishes to get this job done with as much ease as possible but, his bad luck proceeds him as everyone’s conflicting objectives collide on the fastest train in the world. This movie is adapted from a book of the same name by Kotaro Isaka.
Interpretation
Throughout the movie, a large emphasis is put on the power of fate and how everything that happens is supposed to happen. Ladybug believes strongly that he has been cursed with bad luck and conversely Prince believes she has been blessed with good luck. Yet their separate fates would suggest otherwise. After watching this film I was reminded of a story I once heard from Alan Watts called The Chinese Farmer. Essentially the story highlights that there is no such thing as good or bad luck but merely things that happen to you. A broken leg may seem like bad luck until the army drafts everyone your age to fight but you can’t due to the injury. It is fate that is the driver of all things and it’s only in the final analysis that you can judge the things that you go through.
