Tag: Hiroyuki Sanada

Film Review: “Bullet Train”

Welcome to late-stage Brad

Balletic Fighting
Brad Pitt and Bad Bunny star in Bullet Train.

Fading assassins looking to complete the latest job. Low-level criminals looking for a clean exit from the life. Under-loved princesses looking to deal with daddy once and for all. Others looking for nothing more than cold, hard revenge. And in the middle of it all is bucket-hat Brad Pitt. In his latest, Bullet Train (or: Bucket-Hat Brad with a Bullet), Pitt romps, skips, hops, twirls, guffaws, and even sings his way through an overly-complicated, needlessly-sprawling, yet more than semi-entertaining roller coaster. Continue reading “Film Review: “Bullet Train””

Film Review: The Wolverine

‘The Wolverine’ is 3/4 the thrilling character driven spinoff we wanted.

Yeah, he's angry, bub!
He’s angry, bub!

Rest assured, The Wolverine washes away most of the sour taste leftover from 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  The Wolverine is not an origin story, nor is it similar to the usual X-Men fare.  Under the consistently solid, if not stellar, direction of James Mangold (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma, Knight & Day), The Wolverine manages to resurrect the energy of a character who was losing appeal due to over exposure and silly effects-laden films.  The first three quarters of The Wolverine make up one of the most entertaining comic book adaptations to date.  Pardon the expression, but The Wolverine is almost ‘Nolan-esque’.  In more ways than one, the story is also filled with parallels to Greek mythology (much of the X-Men universe is), all the while maintaining a strong loyalty to the fan favorite title character.  Unfortunately, all comes tumbling down in the final act.

Continue reading “Film Review: The Wolverine”