BULLET Train Explosion, now streaming on Netflix, is the sequel to 1975 action thriller The Bullet Train.
Directed by Shinji Higuchi, this hurtling adventure never gets sidetracked and comes off more like an infomercial for the East Japan Railway Company, highlighting Japanese efficiency and productivity, than an edge of the seat suspense movie.
The original film, released 50 years ago, which was the blueprint for Speed, tells the story of a first-generation bullet train travelling from Tokyo to Hamata. Not long after its has set off on its high-speed journey, the head of the railway security learns that a bomb has been planted and will explode if the train slows below 80 kilometres per hour, unless a ransom of $5million is paid.
A formula we have seen used in countless blockbusters, and indeed even Father Ted, is repeated once more in Higuchi’s enjoyable locomotive romp. The 2025 sequel ups the ante, and the speed. This time round if the train’s speed falls below 100 kilometres per hour, and a whopping payment of 100 billion yen is not met, the choo-choo will go bang, kaboom, blast.
The mysterious bomber also adds another interesting demand and insists that the ransom be raised by the people of Japan through social media.
Bullet Train Explosion wastes no time getting into the high octane and cheesy fun which is equal parts MacGyver and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three with an Asian twist.
There’s very little that will make your heart actually go clickety-clack. Instead what we get is a highly entertaining and highly watchable drama that is light on the excitement, but with lashings of quaint and endearing Japanese stereotypes.
The characters are mostly overly polite, respectful, serene and hardworking, with a can-do attitude. Not for one minute do you ever feel that there’s a crisis in the world that these people couldn’t manage or would ruffle their composure.
Despite all that, this is still worth a look.
(3/5)
