Sightlines · reception
How Bullet Train was received
2022 · David Leitch · Bullet Train on Sightlines
The arc
Critics shrugged at release ('a Tarantino knock-off on rails') but audiences made it one of 2022's rare original-property hits — and streaming turned it into a certified comfort rewatch that people defend far more warmly now than the reviews would suggest.
What’s debated
The eternal split: is it empty, exhausting style-over-substance, or exactly the fun, star-powered original blockbuster people claim Hollywood doesn't make anymore?
Its footprint
Lemon sorting every person he meets into Thomas the Tank Engine characters ('he's a Diesel') escaped the movie entirely, and the Tangerine/Lemon 'twins' became instant fancam and edit material.
Where it stands
A Letterboxd crowd-pleaser rather than a canon entry — the go-to example of a 'great hang' movie where the vibes and cast chemistry are the whole point.
Did you know? Ryan Reynolds' uncredited cameo is a returned favour: Brad Pitt had cameoed as the Vanisher in Leitch's Deadpool 2, so Reynolds popped up here to pay the debt back.