A scene from SPEED TRAIN. Courtesy of Level 33 Entertainment
It’s been just over 30 years since Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves found themselves trapped in a bus that couldn’t go slower than 55 without going BOOM! in the original SPEED. Since then, there have been a ton of movies based on comparable perils in every sort of public transportation vehicle, with the possible exception of pedicabs and rickshaws (no one could cover EVERY action movie from Asia). The title of SPEED TRAIN tells you most of what to expect.
In a high-tech near future, featuring rapid rail transit and brain implants that can enhance all sorts of learning and functions, we meet a bunch of people in a mostly talky first half hour. One car on this train’s maiden voyage (Do trains have voyages? If not, insert your own alternative noun.) contains shackled violent prisoners being shipped to the death chamber. The rest are occupied by the usual assortment of random civilians, with focus on a pair of cheerleading coaches and their two captains heading for a big competition.
Unbeknownst to all is that Loklin (Louis Mandylor) designed much of that tech, but got shafted on the many millions he should have received. He’s set up a high-priced pay-to-play game, in which rich jerks can remotely control the body of a designated prisoner, who is let loose to fight or kill anyone in their path. He’s also taken command of the train, speeding it up to Doomsday velocity as it crosses the country.
The degree of harm the thugs and their masters do is surprisingly limited by unexpected fighting skills among the regular passengers – especially the cheer coach who is ex-military (Scout Taylor-Compton) and an Interpol agent with family problems. The players aren’t all that interesting, but the action is first-rate. Plenty of hand-to-hand mayhem and bloodshed. Louis Mandylor is a hard sell as a Lex Luthor-level genius, but he does well showing the deranged evil side of his character.
A side note you may also find interesting. I grew curious after seeing Louis in a lot of films lately. He’s a year younger than his brother, Costas. Both have around 170 screen credits, and 17 or 18 awards and nominations for their work. Costas has more total screen time, since one of his credits was for 88 episodes of the fine TV series “Picket Fences.” Louis’ resume includes more off-screen activity, with 13 gigs as director and 16 as a producer. Their family gatherings must a hoot of (I hope) friendly competition.
The performances are competent. Production values are laudable, with appealing sets and graphics keeping the confined setting from feeling claustrophobic. The script falls short on developing personalities for empathy, and has a few plot holes, but delivers on brisk pace and well-staged action once that phase begins. For mindless escapism, it’s a reasonable time investment.
SPEED TRAIN opens in select theaters and streaming on demand on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025.
Brad Pitt and Bad Bunny star in BULLET TRAIN. Photo By: Scott Garfield. (C) 2022 CTMG. All Rights Reserved
Fans of frenetic, bloody action comedies like SMOKIN’ ACES, SHOOT ‘EM UP, KUNG FU HUSTLE or just about anything from Guy Ritchie are gifted this summer with a likely candidate for their list of escapist favorites. The title of BULLET TRAIN refers not only to Japan’s ultra-modern railway system, but to the collection of assassins and thugs who wend their way through the cars and each other for a variety of reasons. The mix of players and agendas will make little sense… until it does.
David Leitch enhances his credentials as stunt man who worked his way up to becoming a first-rate director, following the examples of Clint Eastwood, Hal Needham, John Ford, John Landis and others. After nearly 20 years of stunt work, with a bevy of acting gigs in the mix, he got his first chance to direct parts of JOHN WICK. Since then, he’s helmed ATOMIC BLONDE, DEADPOOL 2, and FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW. The dude knows how to serve up slam-bang action laced with humor, and does it here in fine style.
A bunch of hired guns are given assignments that put them all on one train from Tokyo to Kyoto. Two of them, code named Tangerine and Lemon (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henley) for this mission, are tasked with retrieving both the kidnapped son and the briefcase of his ransom money for the country’s biggest baddest crime boss, not so affectionately known as “White Death.” Brad Pitt (code name Ladybug) is hired to grab the briefcase, returning to duty after a hiatus of a Zen-like quest for meaning and inner peace. Several others are on hand seeking to avenge an assortment of wrongs. All that plus a supremely deadly boomslang snake that would have ruined air travel for Samuel L. Jackson if he had been making this trip by rail.
The action on board as these disparate, and increasingly desperate, thugs keep stumbling all over each other is supplemented by a batch of hilariously bloody flashbacks and contemporaneous developments outside the train than shape the action within. Those sequences fill in backstories and advance the plot quite smoothly.
Leitch’s pacing and scene switching makes the film seem shorter than its 126-minute running time. Parts of the score enhance the action, while others add to the comedic side. The script by Zak Olkewics, based on Kotaro Isaka’s novel, gives us an excellent set of highly diverse personalities and agendas, balancing the laughs with the mayhem, and eventually ‘splaining all coherently enough to please most genre fans with the product they’ve just seen.
A couple of side notes: Brad Pitt reportedly did most of his own stunts. If so, that’s quite an achievement for anyone – more so by a guy on the far side of 50. Also, don’t leave when the credits start. There’s a scene in the middle you shouldn’t miss.
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, Kenneth Branagh’s new film adaptation of the classic Agatha Christie mystery, offers a certain amount of lavish period style and mystery fun but does not measure up to the 1974 version, directed by Sidney Lumet and featuring an all-star cast. Branagh’s film also has a star-packed cast and Branagh, who plays detective Hercule Poirot as well as directs, sports an astonishing two-stage mustache that might be worth the ticket price alone.
Based on the famous Agatha Christie mystery featuring her Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, the 1974 film version had an all-star cast with Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam,
Ingrid Bergman, Jacqueline Bisset, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Anthony Perkins,, Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Widmark, and Michael York. Branagh’s film is also star-packed, with Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, Leslie Odom Jr., Michelle Pfeiffer, and Daisy Ridley.
The story takes place in 1935 aboard the legendary Orient Express, as the luxury train makes its way from Istanbul to Paris, carrying all manner of exotic, intriguing, international passengers, including the famous and fussy Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It is the dead of winter and traveling through mountainous Eastern Europe, the train gets stuck in the snow. As they wait for rescue, a passenger turns up dead, and the detective is on the case to solve the murder.
Part of the appeal of this mystery lies in Christie’s skill creating a cast of memorable international characters. At first, they all seem like familiar types but secrets are revealed as the story unfolds, making them all likely suspects for the murder. Johnny Depp plays the victim, wealthy American ex-gangster Mr. Ratchet, the part played by Richard Widmark in the 1974 film. Ratchet tells everyone he is an antiques dealer but the bullying, scar-faced man is clearly is something more sinister. Depp plays Ratchet with an overwhelming sense of menace and none of the charm Widmark added. Ratchet is traveling with two employees, an assistant/accountant Hector McQueen (Josh Gad) and English manservant Masterman (Derek Jacobi).
Among the passengers are a loud, talkative wealthy widow, Mrs Hubbard (Michelle Pfeiffer), deeply religious Pilar Estravados (Penelope Cruz) who was a missionary in the novel, a German who seems a fan of Nazi ideas, Professor Hardman (Willem Dafoe), an English governess Mary Debenham (Daisy Ridley) and Dr. Arbuthnot (Leslie Odom, Jr.), a black man whose presence upsets the Nazi-leaning professor. There are also a few European aristocrats aboard, Princess Natalia Dragomiroff (Judi Dench), a Russian royal living in exile after the Revolution, accompanied by her maid/companion Hildegarde Schmidt (Olivia Colman), and a hot-tempered young Hungarian ballet dancer Count Andrenyi (dancer Sergei Polunin, in his acting debut) and his beautiful wife, Countess Andrenyi (Lucy Boynton). In the novel, the Count is a diplomat who is traveling with diplomatic immunity, although why the dancer and his wife have that status is unclear. Also aboard are the young manager of the Orient Express line, Bouc (Tom Bateman), who is a personal friend of Poirot, the train conductor Pierre Michel (Marwan Kenzari) and a new character added, Biniamino Marquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), who is supposed to be a red herring, as if the plot didn’t have enough of those already.
That is a lot of characters to introduce but the clever plot does that through Poirot’s interrogations and investigation, with suspicion falling on one and then another until the final moments. Branagh and screenwriter Michael Green were wise enough not to mess with the basics of Agatha Christie’s plot, but the story is updated by adding some diversity to the characters and some details that recognize the growing Nazi influence in Europe at the time the story takes place.
Reportedly, screenwriter Green is an Agatha Christie fan, and he was already working on the script when Branagh was brought in to direct. Whether Branagh is a Christie fan is less clear. In the film’s production notes, Branagh said he was drawn to the story because “it’s much more an emotional experience than people might imagine. This goes deeper because, it explores grief, and loss, and revenge, with sophistication and soul.” Still, Christie fans will be relieved that the main story remains intact.
Much of the film’s appeal is the spectacular visual lavishness, packed with exotic locations, evocative sets, breathtaking locations, and gorgeous costumes. Part of the film’s period allure is the idea of luxury train travel. These characters, wealthy people or their employees, are traveling first-class on the legendary Orient Express, a train famous for its luxury, in an era where that was more expected but is now only found on private jets. Business class just doesn’t measure up.
Not surprisingly, the film looks splendid, and should be in line for some art direction nominations come awards season. It lavishes on the costumes and works hard to create period atmosphere with a plethora of details. This opulent effort succeeds at first but once the train is stuck in the snow, on a trestle and approaching a tunnel, the magic of the period feel diminishes. The passengers are in a precarious place indeed, physically as well as psychologically. The location adds some visual dynamic but it really seems to distract from the mystery, serving to cover a lack of psychological tension that the director should be building.
Where the film falls short is in how director/star Branagh handles this classic mystery. Christie’s story is packed with suspense and colorful characters but Branagh puts all the focus on his role as Poirot. The the other characters, each of whom seem likely suspects in the book and earlier film, are barely sketched out in this one. In the 1974 film, each actor gets their moment to shine and create a fascinating, unique character. Branagh plays favorites, giving some actors that luxury, notably Gad and Ridley, but others much less. Dame Judi Dench gets a little chance to round out her imperious princess, but other characters remain two-dimensional shadows passing through.
Branagh also creates more of a sense of melancholy than mystery, seizing on the characters’ tragic histories more than the whodunit. The film’s pacing seems slow, and director’s attempts to open up the action from the confines of the train, moving some interrogations outside in the snow,feel more like distractions than additions. In this version, the train has been derailed, not merely snowbound, and is struck on a bridge above a deep mountain gorge and just in front of tunnel. Branagh adds scenes where the detective interrogates passengers in an open luggage car perched precariously on the bridge high above the gorge. That scene, plus adding a little action chase, seem more suited to Sherlock Holmes than Hercule Poirot.
Introducing a new audience to Agatha Christie’s classic murder mystery is an admirable goal. Christie’s clever mystery remains strong enough that those not familiar with the novel or the earlier film will be entertained and surprised. But for those who know the tale, Branagh could have spent less time on his mustache and character, and more on building suspense and on leaving room for the other characters.
“Nothing haunts like the past.” It’s a catchy tag line that attempts to sum up writer and director Michael Petroni’s new film BACKTRACK, but there more to this mystery/thriller than can be summed up in a single breath. What begins as a moody drama about a troubled psychotherapist quickly reveals itself as a deeper tale of supernatural intervention into the darker underbelly of human nature.
Peter Bower, played with wrenching emotional finesse by Adrien Brody, is struggling with the loss of his daughter while barely holding together his practice and his marriage. Bower blames himself for his daughter’s death, while not entirely clear on what happened exactly. When not in sessions with his own patients, Bower seeks counsel from fellow psychotherapist Duncan Stewart, played by Sam Neill, which only leads Bower further down the twisted rabbit hole that will be come a truly unnerving revelation.
BACKTRACK is a ghost story of sorts, but at it’s core, the film is a highly internalized story of a man thrown up against his own emotions, his own inner demons, perhaps manifesting as tortured apparitions, or perhaps fueling an unwelcome opening in himself to another level of percieving the pain and grief that surrounds him on a daily basis. Whichever it is, the film merely suggests the possibility and leaves the audience to interpret the events as they unfold through our own filters.
The story truly shifts gears into an engaging, gripping mystery once a teenaged girl named Elizabeth Valentine shows up outside Bowers practice, unable or unwilling to speak. This sets Bowers off on a mission to understand driven by his own lack of certainty. From here, the energy and pacing of the film picks up and never lets the viewer go, pulling us in closer by a narrow thread, one tiny hand over another as we grow closer and closer to the morbid truth that awaits Bower.
BACKTRACK is an atmospheric film, shot with the visual tone to match the looming dread and sense of endless loss. The film looks dark and decayed, strangled of vibrant colors and replaced with a multitude of richly depressing shades of black, blue and gray. There is a gothic element to the film’s palette that maintains the tone, which is crucial as the film’s 90-minute running time doesn’t waste a beat after the initially slow but short opening sequence.
Sam Neill is splendid, as he usually is, but in a rather limited use. His character has minimal screen time, but serves as a crucial element in developing the plot, on a several psychological milestones for Bower as he pieces together the shattered puzzle that is his memory of what truly happened to spark the series of unfortunate events in which he finds himself involved. George Shevtsov provides an understated but impressive performance as Bower’s father, while Chloe Bayliss’ performance as Elizabeth Valentine is overshadowed by a slight overuse of questionably less than stellar special effects, but the level of distraction is minimal in comparison to the overall enjoyment of the film.
A particular achievement goes to the music in BACKTRACK from Dale Cornelius, providing a thick, robust injection of moody atmosphere to the film that truly sells the darkness. The score grabs the viewer by the ears and forces us to sit up and take notice right from the opening credits. It makes a statement, declaring something bad will happen and you do not want to miss out.
Michael Petroni draws on our innate human nature, or ingrained need to witness the horrible things that happen in others’ lives as if that somehow means our own lives will be immune of such tragedy. Petroni’s screenplay is definitely deserving of Brody’s committed intensity. While there is a temptation to over analyze the story as an extension of another previous film from 1999, I encourage the viewer to let that thought pass and remain open to the less superficial nature of BACKTRACK, which still carries some surprises of it’s own.
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
BACKTRACK released in theaters and video on demand
