The Wasteland Reviewer

Stop! That! Train! (2026) Written Review

We haven’t gotten a good old fashioned disaster movie parody in a long time, have we? With a film like Airplane!, that has become a cultural touchstone which is endlessly quoted, memes galore, and generations of laughs. That film is a bonkers ride of nonstop gags, jokes, word play, and physical comedy that just is endlessly watchable. But Hairspray remake director Adam Shankman and RuPaul have converged to bring a queer slant on Airplane! with Stop! That! Train! which puts a bunch of drag queens on a glamorous bullet train. A superstorm sends the first ever TransAmerica bullet train on a nonstop thrill ride with plenty of silliness. 

How does Shankman bring this film to life? This obviously is going for an over-the-top, silly tone that will never be taken seriously. Even when the film introduces dramatic elements like romance or friendship conflict, it is presented in such a melodramatic way that the film is winking at you to not take it too seriously. The film is quite funny but there are certainly stretches that are a bit too devoid of laughs which kills the pacing. Shankman goes for big energy with the film, but that steam starts puttering out with over 30 minutes left in the film which makes that third act a real chore to sit through. Unfortunately, the film loses its moment which makes things feel quite frustrating. The costumes and production inside the train are colorful, vibrant, and full of personality. The film does rely heavily on computer-generated effects (whether the rumors of AI use is true or not) for the big storm but they look quite unconvincing which takes the danger out of the equation. A few fun musical performances inject some energy and personality, but the overall execution just doesn’t always land.

Does the writing from Christina Friel and Connor Wright deliver? You can certainly tell that Friel and Wright have watched Airplane! quite a bit as the whole joke structure and narrative framework borrows from that comedy classic. There are different aspects of the narrative and some of them are more effective than others. Most of the elements on the actual train are quite funny. The mean girl crew of train attendants are a blast and whenever they are on screen, they bring the laughs. The wild string of cameos as the different passengers are quite fun. Some of the characters unfortunately do feel a little too derivative of this film’s homage basis. Many of the characters are boiled down to one-note gags or traits which make it hard to connect with. The elements with the President of the United States honestly have some of the best comedic writing and best gags in the whole film. The script is also trying to capture the airport tower element from Airplane! with the Department of Transportation sequences but unfortunately, they are so one-note and unfunny that it brings the film down whenever the film cuts back to those sequences. The writing is certainly not sharp enough to keep up with the films that influenced Stop! That! Train! 

Does the cast deliver the needed ingredients to bring this film together? The crew of RuPaul’s Drag Race make up the core members of the cast. Jujubee and Ginger Minj are the two leads, but they don’t give convincing acting performances. They have some solid comedic timing, and they perform well with the musical numbers but the moments with more dramatic beats just fall flat. The trio of mean girl drag queens are a blast with Brock Hayhoe delivering the best performance in the whole film. Sassy, cruel, and confident, Hayhoe just feels so natural on screen. RuPaul is sassy and brings their unique presence to the film as the President (which is a wonderful repeating gag throughout the film). Brian Jordan Alvarez is the romantic lead of the film, and his performance is entirely one-note but at least it is fun. Chris Parnell (Conductor Davenport) is not in the film much, but he steals each scene that he is in. Latrice Royale (the last of the drag queen crew) is a blast as they keep popping up randomly throughout the film. There are plenty of fun minor performers (who are recognizable actors) that bring the laughs from Joel McHale to Sarah Michelle Geller to Missi Pyle.

Is Stop! That! Train! the next hilarious parody film to fall in love with? There is certainly plenty to appreciate about Shankman’s film. This is queer as queer can be with plenty of camp and melodrama. Unfortunately, the film loses its momentum and energy after being quite entertaining for a while. The cast certainly can be funny but those more narrative and emotional elements just fall flat too often. If this was a wild, fast-paced short, it just might have had enough gas to make it consistently entertaining. That third act just loses that energy and the audience.