So we’ve got a bullet train zipping through Japan, minding its own business, when there’s a phone call from a mysterious voice saying there’s a bomb on the train and if the train’s speed drops below 100 kilometers per hour, it’ll explode.
This sounds familiar, of course, but what you may not know is that the 1994 action masterpiece Speed was, itself, heavily inspired by a Japanese movie from 20 years earlier called Bullet Train. And now we have a sort-of-sequel-sort-of-remake of that original movie, this one called Bullet Train Explosion, which is unfortunately hurt on the action side of things by the existence of Keanu and Sandra and that runaway bus. Although this movie does have a few different things on its mind.
The broad plot points are basically what you might expect, and it’s all directed fairly slickly, with periodic cuts to the speeding train so we know we’re still going fast and a decent amount of action inside the train itself so we don’t get too bored with the passengers. It’s also two hours and 17 minutes long, and feels unnecessarily bloated, especially when we already have a better example of how well this can all be done.
But what happens around the action is what’s far more interesting. Instead of one or two people being heroic and winning the day, Bullet Train Explosion shows us the benefits of having a whole lot of generally competent people work together to solve an extraordinary problem. The train staff keep the train moving and the passengers as calm as possible, the control center works to make rapid decisions in extreme circumstances, and even the government comes out looking not so bad, despite dithering for an uncomfortable length of time. It’s quite a different take on a disaster movie, and in that sense it’s a welcome one, and it’s even a little exciting just to see people do their jobs well. Although if you still wake up at night because of nightmares about math problems involving two trains traveling in opposite directions at different speeds, this may be a bit much for you.
Bullet Train Explosion is on Netflix.
