One should take exception to Hollywood plundering a Japanese novel with Japanese characters in a Japanese setting and populating it instead with American stars, as they commonly do, but it's hard to imagine that a wholly authentic native version of a plot just about assassins on the Shinkansen trying to do away with each other could be all that enjoyable. Casting Brad Pitt as the lead, a hitman coming back to work from a protracted spiritual retreat, is a scream, proving once again that his greatest aptitude actually lies in comedy, just as in the case of his pal George Clooney. And the able cast around him are given stacks of choice lines and personality quirks to work with too, such as one of them basing his whole judgement of people on Thomas the Tank Engine. Of course the numerous deaths on the way are as as Grand Guignol as anything, but they are inventive enough to slot neatly into the comedy. An unexpectedly guilty treat, provided you are sold on the idea of Snatch put into a blender with Kill Bill and Burn After Reading.
6/10
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