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Bullet Train
Movie

Bullet Train

2022 • Action, Comedy, Thriller

Woke Score
6
out of 10

Plot

Trained killer Ladybug wants to give up the life but is pulled back in by his handler Maria Beetle in order to collect a briefcase on a bullet train heading from Tokyo to Morioka. On board are fellow assasins Kimura, the Prince, Tangerine, and Lemon. Once on board the five assasins discover that their objectives are all connected.

Overall Series Review

The film is a fast-paced action comedy that blends stylish violence with meta-commentary, revolving around a set of professional killers with intertwined objectives on a Japanese high-speed train. The narrative frames itself around the theme of fate, suggesting the characters are merely pawns in a larger, cosmic game of bad luck and unintended consequences. The main character, Ladybug, is a world-weary assassin who has embraced therapy and self-help maxims, attempting to navigate the bloodshed with a new non-lethal philosophy. A major point of contention is the casting, as the movie is an adaptation of a Japanese novel but prominently features a mostly non-Japanese ensemble cast, setting it within a highly stylized, caricature-like version of Japan.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics8/10

The adaptation of a Japanese novel shifts the focus from an all-Japanese cast to a predominantly non-Japanese ensemble, centering on a white male lead. This is historical race-swapping. Japanese characters, like The Elder and The Father, are primarily relegated to roles as Yakuza, adhering to recognizable stereotypes, while major non-Japanese characters receive more screen time and central focus. Other non-white characters are often reduced to archetypal caricatures, such as the angry Black woman or the macho cartel-involved Latino.

Oikophobia7/10

The movie uses Japan as a highly stylized, exoticized, and fantastical backdrop, often criticized as a Westernized caricature rather than an authentic setting. Jokes are made about Western expectations of Japanese culture, with the main character, Ladybug, expressing surprise that locals are not constantly bowing and polite. The narrative features a Russian character, the White Death, who has taken over a traditional Japanese Yakuza crime family, depicting a foreign element supplanting a native institution.

Feminism5/10

The female characters are shown as highly competent and deadly in their own right. The Prince is a young woman who manipulates men to do her bidding and is shown to be more ruthlessly evil and effective than most of the male assassins, fitting the 'Girl Boss' trope. Ladybug, the central male character, constantly preaches about avoiding toxic anger and focusing on therapy, portraying a form of emasculated masculinity compared to the traditional tough-guy assassin archetype.

LGBTQ+2/10

The intense affection between two male assassins, Tangerine and Lemon, is repeatedly clarified by the narrative to be brotherly or strictly platonic. They are revealed to be adoptive brothers in a flashback, rejecting the possibility of a romantic relationship. The core structure of the primary relationships and humor does not center on alternative sexualities, nor does it contain explicit messaging about gender ideology or the deconstruction of the nuclear family.

Anti-Theism7/10

The central theme of the film is fate and random bad luck, a secular, existential replacement for spiritual order. The main character, Ladybug, makes jokes that mock religious concepts, exclaiming, 'God hates me,' and inquiring sarcastically about the religious beliefs of a dying man. This irreverent use of religious terms and mockery of faith suggests moral law is subjective and purely a matter of luck or power dynamics.