TL;DR – The idea of Airplane! reimagined through the lens of Drag is an interesting concept, but unfortunately, everything about this film is so one-note that it is not enough to hide the many issues.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid- and end-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Stop! That! Train! Review Introduction

I had the afternoon off, and it is cheap Tuesday at my local cinemas, so I decided to go in blind and see what movies were available that I have not watched before. Today’s review was the first of those possibilities, which started strong, but I am not sure it ever delivered.

So, to set the scene, Tess (Ginger Minj) and DeeDee (Jujubee) are working on Stank Rail as train stewardesses when suddenly the train line is shut down. Not wanting to get broken up, they hear that the luxurious Glamazonian Express, the only high-speed railway in the USA, needs two fill-in stewardesses. Well, they jump at the opportunity. But what they don’t know is that in the United States Train Command Center, Donna Dusk (Rachel Bloom) has discovered that the Glamazonian Express is heading straight towards a rare Stormaganza, a weather event that few have lived to talk about.   

A Strong Premise

Hollywood has a long history of making disaster films, and just as long of a history parodying those same disaster films. There are a lot of ways to spin that parody, and grounding it in the world of Drag sounds like a good idea on paper. A lot of Drag is all about heightened characters, which would fit perfectly in this genre, and the start of the film shows that. Ginger Minj and Jujubee make a strong partnership to base the narrative on, and it is clear that they pulled in every favour they had to fill the movie with a cornucopia of cameos.

It is Only One Note.

The main problem with this film is that it is only ever working on one note, and yes, we got the joke in the first ten minutes, and then it is just that same joke repeatedly. This means, outside of some amusing musical numbers when Adam Shankman’s direction finally gets to shine, that there is not enough substance to the film to cover for the lack of depth. The script does not have much to it other than RuPaul’s Drag Race deep cuts, and while the cast is trying, it never quite lands. I was also not entirely happy to see an AI company in the credits.     

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend Stop! That! Train!? Unfortunately, not. Dedicated RuPaul’s Drag Race fans will likely enjoy spotting the many cameos, but beyond that, there is not much here to recommend.

Have you watched Stop! That! Train!? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.If you liked Stop! That! Train!, we would recommend Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga to you because it is probably the closest film I can think of from a stylistic perspective, but it has more substance to the story.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Stop! That! Train!
Directed by – Adam Shankman
Written by – Christina Friel & Connor Wright
Music by – Jacques Brautbar
Cinematography by – Luka Bazeli
Edited by – Joshua Kirchmer
Production/Distribution Companies – World of Wonder, Bleecker Street, & Universal Pictures
Starring – Ginger Minj, Jujubee, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Latrice Royale, Marty Lauter, Symone, Rachel Bloom, Matt Rogers, Chris Parnell, Brian Jordan Alvarez, & RuPaul Charles
With – Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicole Richie, Raven-Symoné, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Natasha Leggero, Drew Droege, Joel McHale, Riki Lindhome, Evan Mulrooney, Asher Alexander, Mayan Lopez, Missi Pyle, Jerry O’Connell, June Diane Raphael, Lisa Rinna, Jai Rodriguez, Paul Scheer, Nicole Sullivan, Angeria Paris VanMicheals, Monét X Change, Michelle Visage, & Charo
Rating – Australia: M; Canada: 14a; United Kingdom: 15; United States: R