Fate; the Bullet Train definition.

A high-speed passenger train that whisks passengers at speeds of 150–250 mph. Three different assassins, each on separate missions, howbeit aboard the same train, without a clue as to the hideous end awaiting them. A snatch and grab operative who finds himself on an impromptu mission originally meant for someone else. A bereaved lover who plots a grand revenge scheme, all to challenge the forces that be, and prove a point. A scared father who is willing to do anything to save his young son’s life. A young abandoned daughter who seeks revenge on a father who abandoned her, all because she was born female. A vanquished warrior and grandfather who seeks to rescue his son from danger, but gets a second chance against the victor who defeated him years ago.


As I spent the last three and a half hours of my life watching the movie Bullet Train —mind you, not because the movie is three hours long, but because, on so many occasions, I would rewind to watch a past scene—it occurred to me that perhaps before my very eyes was the simplest explanation to one of mankind’s greatest concepts. I couldn't help but be awed by the genius with which this movie was written and produced, and how it subtly and thoroughly taught about that great concept—one affecting you and I—the concept called fate.


Derived from the Latin word fatum (which translates to something spoken, a prophetic declaration, an oracle, or a divine determination), the term fate is one word with quite a number of definitions. The Cambridge dictionary describes fate as “a power that some people believe causes and controls all events, so that you cannot change or control the way things will happen.” Another definition claims fate denotes the belief that everything in human lives, society, and the planet itself happens according to a predetermined, unchanging pattern. Whichever definition be the case, people today remain enthralled by the intriguing and ageless idea of fate.


Before now, most people thought of fate from a deterministic viewpoint. This particular perspective sees fate as a rigid unalterable course that one’s life is predestined to take. It believes that everything that occurs to us is predetermined, and regardless of the decisions we make or the actions we perform, we are ultimately compelled to live out our lives as fate deems fit.


However, more studies have come to establish a second viewpoint, a better viewpoint, the non-deterministic perspective on fate. This second viewpoint takes into consideration chance, free will and choice as substantial variables in molding and shaping our fate. It is of the opinion that fate is not a hard pre-set future, but a range of pre-set alternatives and routes, with each having its own definite end. The non-deterministic viewpoint opines that whatever route we take; and whatever end befalls us down that route, is all a result of chance, and the various choices that we make for ourselves, and by our own freewill.


Nevertheless, even with these viewpoints, the concept of fate and its relationship with variables like chance, choices, karma, bad luck, etc., is still largely ununderstood today. The movie Bullet Train did not only creatively depict the viewpoints of fate, but it particularly simplified and explained its interrelationship with the aforementioned variables. The movie also reveals another side to fate—the interconnectivity of fate—again simplifying this aspect. The interconnectivity of fate is perhaps still much unknown in today’s world.


A Columbia Pictures movie, produced by 87 North Productions, with producers Kelly McCormick, David Leitch, and Antoine Fauqua, executive producers Brent O'Connor, Ryosuke Saegusa, Yuma Terada, and Kat Samick, directed by David Leitch, and based off the fictional book Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka, Bullet Train is an American-Japanese movie which I personally believe should top box-office charts.


Set on a high-speed Japanese train ironically known as the Bullet Train, the movie showcases seasoned actor Brad Pitt as Ladybug. Ladybug is the movie’s protagonist, who unfortunately and unknowingly gets involved in a mission. However, there is a twist, for by virtue of getting involved in that very mission, he literally becomes a pawn and the antagonist in a twisted game of fate. The real protagonist is actually equally seasoned actor Michael Shannon—who is in the movie as White Death—a Japanese mafia leader, and the creator of the mission.


Bullet Train is essentially a man’s plot to rebel against a cruel fate dealt to him by chance. It is a revenge scheme where the protagonist hides behind the scenes and ascribes the Cambridge dictionary’s definition of fate—an unseen power—and, as with the pied piper and the rats, dictates and controls all events in the movie in order to effect vengeance on every single person responsible, even in the minutest of ways, for the death of his beloved wife. It is a man’s quest to prove that one could, by his own hands, write out his own fate.


Employing funny cast titles like Lemon (Bryan Tyree Henry), Tangerine (Aaron Taylor Johnson), Prince (Joey King), The Hornet (Zazie Beetz), Kimura (Andrew Koji), etc., the movie, through Ladybug’s story, begins to explain fate from a deterministic viewpoint. It depicts Ladybug apparently doomed to meet with a definite, unfortunate end. However, his fate takes a turn for the non-deterministic viewpoint, for ironically, he is on a mission meant for someone else. He therefore finds himself fighting to escape the deterministic fate that awaits him. Interestingly, he is helped by chance, or rather by the fate of the ladybug—as interpreted in the Japanese tradition— his choices, and his disposition to life. Hence he escapes a cruel fate that would have otherwise certainly been his.


With excellent cinematography, a more excellent storyline, humor, due sarcasm, Nice CGI and VFX, and harmony of plot, the movie is actually a steller piece of art. With stellar performances from actors Brad Pitt and Bryan Tyree Henry, the standout scene for me was when the White Death explained to Ladybug his master scheme, revealing how everyone got to be pawns in his plan.


His revelations, in no small way, explained the interconnectivity of fate. It brought to light the various past actions of the three assassins, and how each action contributed in one way or another to the death of his beloved wife. It turned out that while each assassin had been living their normal lives and doing what they best did—which is assassination, that their actions had created ripple effects. Effects that now resulted in a new fate, a fatal fate, that unfortunately had to befall his wife.


Perhaps fate indeed goes beyond us living our lives according to a predestined, unalterable course. Perhaps fate is not just us dictating our own future through the choices and actions we take, but goes beyond our very selves to also dictate the future of others. If the hornet had known that the assassination job she took on to kill a cardio-vascular surgeon would eventually lead to the death of a woman whose husband would come for her, perhaps she might have refused the job. The same applies for the twins.


In all, I would give the movie a rating of 8.7/10, for it not only had a deep storyline beautifully explained, but it consciously gave significance to every single detail involved in the story. Who would have thought that even a water bottle would play a part in averting a death? Perhaps some terms you read in this review, or some descriptions bemuse you, then you do need to watch the movie. Believe me, you won't regret it.