Almost a year prior to this film being released, we saw The Naked Gun (2025), which was a remake of the 1988 film, directed by David Zucker, and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. They were a filmmaking trio, although the Zucker brothers were often separated out. They specialized in spoof or parody films. That sub-genre went out of fashion for a while. Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer took the mantle in the early 2000's, but the sub-genre of spoof or parody fell out of fashion again, and this time for the better part of a decade or more. The 2025 remake was an attempt to reinvigorate the sub-genre. Apparently, it worked. This year, we got Scary Movie (2026), which was a legacy sequel to the parody created by the Wayans brothers in collaboration with Friedberg and Seltzer. Now, we have this one, produced by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato. Bailey and Barbato are known more for their company World of Wonder, which is behind the hit, Emmy-winning series RuPaul's Drag Race (2009).
RuPaul Charles (Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild! and But I'm a Cheerleader) stars as Judy Gagwell, the President of the United States who harbors a dark secret about a train. Now, she's overseeing another potential disaster involving the railroads. As such, this film is parodying disaster flicks, which the Zucker brothers did in their hit film Airplane! (1980). The Zucker brothers also had a knack for putting exclamation points in their titles, which is why I feel as if this film is more of a homage to the Zucker brothers than anything else. Certain gags from Airplane! are even repeated or copied in this film. What the unique spin here is that, like RuPaul, the majority of the main cast consists of drag performers.
As such, I was reminded of Psycho Beach Party (2000), which was written by Charles Busch, another famous drag queen. Psycho Beach Party was a parody of the surfer films of the 1960's. However, having RuPaul in the cast here is great because she truly is the queen of all drag queens, and she has an even longer career of doing this kind of comedy. Her film Starrbooty (2007) was a culmination of spoofs she did of blaxploitation films. She is the perfect shepherd for this material.
Ginger Minj is a drag queen from RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (2012). Here, she plays Tess. Jujubee is another drag queen from that 2012 series that's been running for 11 seasons. Jujubee co-stars though as DeeDee. Tess and DeeDee are what's known as a "train hostess," a job that's the equivalent to flight attendants. When Tess and DeeDee lose their jobs for one train company, they try to find work with another. They do so with a luxury railroad line, known as the Glamazonian Express. It's the equivalent to luxury airlines, such as Emirates, Qatar Airways or Air France.
Brooke Lynn Hytes holds the distinction of being the first Canadian to compete in RuPaul's Drag Race and is the first contestant to become a full-time judge. Hytes also was featured in the film The Bitch Who Stole Christmas (2021) along side RuPaul and Ginger Minj. Here, Hytes also co-stars as Amber, the leader of the train hostesses in the first-class section of the Glamazonian Express. Amber can best be described as an even fiercer version of Regina George, the villain character from Mean Girls (2004). She even operates in a trio like Regina George.
This contrasts with Tess and DeeDee. Tess could be described as the equivalent to Lindsay Lohan's character in Mean Girls, and DeeDee is more of her dimwitted sidekick. Yet, the film wants to build them up as a friendship for the ages and where the two are bonded, doing everything together. However, in a similar plot point as Mean Girls, there comes a moment where Tess supplants Amber as the leader of the train hostesses in first-class, essentially ditching DeeDee, which causes a dramatic rift.
Rachel Bloom (The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Crazy Ex Girlfriend) rounds out the main cast as Donna Dusk, an employee of the U.S. Department of Transportation. She monitors the rail lines in the country. She notices that a massive storm is in the path of the Glamazonian train. She learns that the brakes on the train have been disabled and the whole locomotive could be derailed, killing everyone on board. She has to figure out a way to bring the vehicle to a halt and save the day. Along the way, she has to deal with a lot of sexism and misogyny from her boss, played by Evan Mulrooney and co-workers, one of whom played by Guy Branum.
Director Adam Shankman whose most successful film was Hairspray (2007) brings that same feeling and look to this film. This film isn't a musical like that 2007 hit, but it does possess a couple of musical numbers that felt like they were ripped from Hairspray, another flick featuring a great drag performance. In fact, this film might be the result of Airplane! and Hairspray having a baby.
Rated R for sexual material, language, some drug material and brief nudity.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 30 mins.
In theaters.
