This is a film that requires a brain to fully enjoy.
Although I like the transporter movies and other brainless action films, every now and then a very good "brain" film comes along to do the impossible-i.e. wake up the brain cells;be entertaining; generate suspense.Some films try to do this and end up pretentious twaddle.But this one is successful.A heavily decorated former Army helicopter pilot who remembers flying his comrades into battle in the Afghan War,"wakes up" with a lurch on a commuter train in the USA.He is seated opposite a "girl next door" type of young woman who is talking to him as though she knows him.But he doesn't know who she is;where he is; and what the hell is going on.
He sees his reflection in the train's window briefly and gets a shock, causing him to go to the toilet to verify what he thinks he saw.Peeking into the mirror in the toilet he sees another man i.e. someone who does not look at all like he thinks he does.In his pockets he finds the man's picture and i.d. and these confirm that the individual on the i.d. is not him.What is going on?
Gradually, as the girl chitchats wondering if he is feeling ok,he looks at his new environment which is soon rocked by a gigantic explosion killing the passengers on the train.
But he "wakes up" in an altogether different place talking to a military officer who questions him about the bomb on the train.As things are slowly revealed, he is told that he is being "sent" onto the train to find out and neutralise the bomber who is threatening an even bigger explosion with a nuclear device in a major city.The train bomb is just the distraction for the more important device.His mission is to find the bomber and prevent the second device from ever being used even it means sacrificing the train.But, he only has an 8 minute window to achieve this before the train bomb blows.Every time he tries he finds out something more until inevitably the bomb goes off.
But they are able to send him back for a few tries.Of course he is also trying to find out why him?The story is very good and challenging.Some clues are dropped in here and there,and there are twists and shocks about who he is and how he got to be doing this which he eventually discovers.
This is not like other films, and it merits close attention.