MovieChat Forums > Bullet Train (2022) Discussion > Brad Pitt is vastly miscast in this...

Brad Pitt is vastly miscast in this...

posted 2 years ago by cyguration (3843)
17 replies | jump to latest

The trailer looks cool, but the thing that stood out the most to me is that Brad Pitt seems vastly miscast in this.

His comedy timing didn't really land as emphatic as it should have, and it was hard -- within the span of the trailer -- to get any feeling at all that I was supposed to be sympathetic to his character.

Worse yet is that he's being portrayed as this "ultimate badass with a change of heart", and it's just really hard to buy into; I still can't get out of my head how much he whined about doing fight scenes in movies during his string of rough and gruff films like Fight Club and Snatch. So seeing the guy in some cool choreographed fight sequences has me scoffing instead of suspending my disbelief.

All truth be told, even though I'm not much of a fan, I honestly think this role would have been perfectly suited for Ryan Reynolds. I think he actually CAN pull off the sympathetic villain role who has a change of heart, and has the physicality to match. I was constantly waiting for the zingers in the trailer, but it seemed everyone else had funnier lines to deliver than Pitt, and that's because he's never been an off-the-cuff, improvisational comedic actor.

I think Pitt definitely has more range than Tom Cruise in certain roles, but even in this role I think Cruise would have been better suited than Pitt, only because it seems very similar to Cruise's character from Knight and Day.

Pitt definitely does better playing arrogant douchebags, sociopaths, and psychopaths (hence why he fits the role of the arrogant, douchebag adventurer so well in that other Sandra Bullock movie).

But lovable, sympathetic villains who are top-notch badasses? Ehh, Reynolds does a much better job of it. Heck, I could even see this role being a perfect fit for someone like Jackie Chan if it were made back in the mid-1990s. Only, Chan probably would have made it where his character looked identical to the killer and their identities got mixed up and he ended up on the train with everyone trying to kill him.

In any case, maybe the trailer was just composed of a lot of spoilers and parts that didn't showoff a more charismatic or likable version of Pitt's character. But by the time it finished all I could think about was, "This would have been a perfect movie for Ryan Reynolds!"

[–] actionkamen (23176) 2 years ago

Exactly! I was like why is Brad Pitt playing Ryan Reynolds the entire trailer.

[–] asom (6509) 2 years ago

Well, Ryan Reynolds will never be able to play Brad Pitt so that's that.

[–] bistritapcv (1660) 2 years ago

Because Ryan Reynolds is annoying. Ever see "Just Friends"?

[–] GordonGartrelle (1267) 2 years ago

Or pretty much anything he's been in.

[–] orangeflava (1726) 2 years ago

Funny you say that since in the film he basically takes ryan reynolds characters place and Reynolds even has a cameo.

[–] asom (6509) 2 years ago

I don't know, will wait to see the movie.

But I liked Pitt in Ms and Mr Smith ...

[–] cyguration (3843) 2 years ago

He was okay in Mr and Mrs Smith, but I don't remember him saying or doing anything remotely funny. He was mostly there to look handsome and give someone for Angelina to play off of. He could have been replaced by Jude Law or Ralph Fiennes and the movie wouldn't have changed much (though I do think that Jude Law would have added a bit more biting charisma and snark to the role).

I may or may not check this movie out some years from now after I've forgotten about it. But man does it look like such a huge missed opportunity in casting. I could even imagine Tom Cruise given a very convincing and egotistical monologue about how he's changing his life around and he's set to become a better person and that his old life is behind him, and then he ends up on the train full of assassins trying to kill him and his natural reflexes to defend himself kicks in.

But yeah, I guess we'll see... but I'm not holding out much hope.

[–] TheArgentinian (6440) 2 years ago

I thought he was done with this kind of big budget action movies.

[–] JoeyReview (112) 2 years ago

You’re actually right because the scene where he killed the woman with her own poison, he was supposed to be funnie by asking her if he cud do anything to help her with the pain but he came out sounding like a total dick

[–] rockfly (163) 2 years ago

I saw it and I disagree with ya. He was hilarious. I think he has always had great comedic timing. you surmised too much from a 2 min trailer

[–] ace2 (543) 2 years ago

I agree Reynolds would have been better. But Reynolds has zero range, he is basically Deadpool in every movie he is in -- which fits here. But also after a point you need a break from him.

[–] April-151-CT (10210) 2 years ago

I agree that Ryan Reynolds is pigeonholing himself in his comedic persona. I really want to see him do more serious roles because he is a fantastic dramatic actor. His performance in Safe House was top-notch.

[–] cyguration (3843) 2 years ago

Yup, agreed.

It's why I rarely watch his films, and only occasionally check them out after a long hiatus from watching any of his stuff.

[–] Icecutter (363) 2 years ago

Strong disagree, he was excellent in this.

Reynolds would have been meh

[–] Costumer (1786) 2 years ago

I think Brad Pitt is perfectly cast here. He projects a world-weariness that is appropriate to the character of Ladybug. I don't see Ryan Reynolds, while a great comedic actor, being able to pull off that effect.

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