Year of Release: 2026
Director: Adam Shankman
Starring: RuPaul, Ginger Minj, Jujubee, Rachel Bloom, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Symone, Marcia Marcia Marcia, Latrice Royale, Chris Parnell, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Natasha Leggero, Nicole Richie, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Drew Droege, Guy Branum, Missi Pyle, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, June Diane Raphael, Michelle Visage, Evan Mulrooney, Charo, Jai Rodriguez
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 0
Watch it on Netflix
Synopsis and Review
Director Adam Shankman is back, following his lackluster sequel to Kevin Lima's "Enchanted". Mr. Shankman has become a staple of "Ru Paul's Drag Race" reality tv show, and therefore it's only suitable that he tackles this spoof/satire/comedy made entirely of contestants from the show, and the sizable & diverse array of guest judges they've featured. The narrative follows two best friends, Tess and DeeDee, who work as train stewardesses. They find themselves unexpectedly out of a job, but quickly bounce back when they get a new gig with Glamazonian Express, a fancier and more upscale train line. They immediately have some antagonism with a trio of other stewardesses, who deem them subpar. While the Glamazonian Express is crossing the country, at the United States Train Command Center, devoted employee Donna Dusk discovers that the train is headed towards a massive storm, which can derail the train and possibly kill every passenger and crew member. The President of the United States, Judy Gagwell, is made aware of the news, and following some poorly handled public statement, eventually appears on the train itself to try to save the situation.
For those who have seen "Ru Paul's Drag Race", it will come as no surprise that this feature film looks like and feels like one of the acting challenges the contestants have to go through, on their journey to win the coveted prize money and title of America's Drag Superstar. Sadly, for a feature that is meant to be a spoof/satire of catastrophe films, akin to what ZAZ (Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker) did with "Airplane", "Stop! That! Train!" has very little in terms of comedy or for that matter, entertainment value. It's not so much that the cast doesn't try - the main issue with this feature lies with its material, the script, which is so mediocre and borderline amateurish, that this feature feels like a high school endeavor peppered with TV stars who all thought this would be a good way to keep their personas alive in the mind of this particular audience. It's ironic that by the end of the film, when the end credits start rolling, the creative team decided to include the bloopers from the shooting, and even those fall so flat that the only people laughing are the performers who originated the mistake. This film had the potential to be a great excursion and satire on destroy films, from a very unique perspective, peppering the over the top events with high camp, particularly considering drag queens are the lead performers, but instead we get a version of what putting a film around Ru Paul's show's drag challenges actually are. The ambition should be a tad higher, particularly considering that while the budget for this film was low, it was still much higher than many independent films that are currently being shot or seeking funding to be shot. The creative team for this film should have aimed to create something that satisfied an audience thirsty for escapism and satire, as opposed to creating something that feels like a wink for their friends and people in their arena. Of all the cast assembled, Chris Parnell, Missi Pyle, and Rachel Bloom escape with their dignity intact, whereas the remaining should hope they never have a retrospective of their film work include this particular endeavor. It's a miss.
