Bullet Train Explosion review: Tsuyoshi Kusanagi starrer is an intermittently entertaining rehash

Still from the film

Cast: Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kanata Hosoda, Non, Jun Kaname, Machiko Ono, Hana Toyoshima
Director: Shinji Higuchi
Rating: 2.5/5
Runtime: 134 min

1975's "The Bullet Train," presented the idea of a bomb threat on a train that can't slow down, "Speed" was a sort of remake expanding the same concept to include a moving bus then we also had our very own desi disaster movie in ‘The Burning Train' which borrowed the same idea and gave it the usual Bollywood treatment and now we have ‘Bullet Train Explosion' a Japanese movie with the same concept and a gradually increasing sense of urgency.

"Bullet Train Explosion," reuses the central crisis of ‘The Bullet Train' while also striving to go further ahead in terms of timelines, technology and motivation. Director Shinji Higuchi of "Shin Godzilla" and "Shin Ultraman" fame goes from giant threats to locomotives in peril, a disaster movie about survival and shame. It's a 134 minutes long and arduous journey that manages to turn assorted beats of suspense into heavy weather drama.

The basic premise is simple. A group straps bombs to a Japanese bullet train in an attempt to extort money from the government.

JR East transportation corporation's Hayabusa No. 60 bullet train arrives with crew for duty. Chief Conductor Takaichi (Tsuyoshi Kusangi) is joined by driver Matsumoto (Non) and Keiji (Kanata Hosoda). The train gets filled up and is all set for its onward journey assisted by the General Operation Control Center, with Kasagi (Takumi Saitoh) overseeing. Once the journey begins at the scheduled time it doesn't take long to realise that a terrorist has planted a bomb on the train, set to detonate if speed drops below 100 kilometers an hour.

The travelers include high schoolers, politicians, and media personalities who drum up the emotional quotient while high-wire rescue efforts by trained professionals make for intriguing disaster management.

The demand is made for a small fortune in ransom before sending info to disarm the bomb.Various teams are set in motion to deal with the terrorist, diffuse the bomb or even rescue the passengers somehow. For Takaichi, dedication to the passengers comes first, and he has to deal with an assortment of agitated people who gradually realise the danger they are in.

"Bullet Train Explosion" tries to get the adrenaline flowing from its opening credit sequence itself, but the storytelling format doesn't allow much room. Higuchi's attempts to grab eyeballs doesn't really work. The screenplay attempts to give a large assortment of people some voice but that becomes a drag on the narrative, slowing it down when there's a call for speed and greater anxiety. Character introductions are rudimentary and fail to register. There's not much dramatic growth because bomb-time horror happens too soon.

This is not a lean thriller. The sagging heavy duty middle track weakens all the problem-solving surrounding it. The use of model trains sets to demonstrate the rescue plan feels like a jaded idea as we've already seen it in ‘The Burning Train.' "Bullet Train Explosion" is a self-aware rehash of the original film but manages to ring a few alarm bells on its lengthy track from Shin-Aomori to Tokyo. There's a bit of social messaging including that of domestic neglect and online radicalization and with decent performances and intermittent perils and threats cropping up during the dangerous ride, it does manage to score some entertainment value.